Blood Ties
by Questfan
Summary: The sequel to Like Father, Like Son. Lucas heads to Paris looking for answers. As you would expect, he gets much more than he bargained for.
1. Chapter 1

**Before you start reading this story you will need to have read** "**Like Father, Like Son" otherwise it won't make much sense. I had intended this to be all one story and I introduced a few things in that story that never got fully explored. Unfortunately I found real life intruded on writing time so I decided to end that story part way through and now I'm back with part two. **

**Since I try to write a story fairly quickly to give myself continuity I hope I won't mess up details from the first story but feel free to point out anything you see and I will fix it. I also like to incorporate reviewers' suggestions where I can so please send them through. **

**Oh, by the way, I know absolutely nothing about Paris and speak about six words of French. Since this is in the future I can play a little with the geography but if I really miss the mark, let me know.**

**Chapter One**

Lawrence scrubbed his hand over his face and sighed softly. The information on the screen before him was making no sense at all. He absently reached out for the mug of coffee beside him and took a sip. The cold liquid tasted disgusting and he spat it back into the mug.

"_How long has that been sitting there?"_ he wondered to himself.

It wasn't even slightly warm so he knew it had been quite some time since his assistant had brought it in. He stretched his arms behind his head, reached over to flick off the computer screen and stood up. He suddenly registered how quiet it was and he glanced at his watch. 9:48. No wonder the building was so quiet and his coffee was stone cold. Everybody else had gone home.

Home. A life outside of work.

He smiled sadly as he pushed the thought aside. Lawrence Wolenczak didn't have a life outside of work. It hadn't always been that way but somehow the demands of his work always seemed to take priority over his home life. There was always a deadline to meet, a crisis to avert or a tantalising discovery just past his fingertips. One day he had come home to find that it wasn't a home anymore. In truth, it hadn't been for a very long time; he'd just been too blind to see it.

He didn't take to failure kindly and he was even harder on himself than others so when family life didn't make the grade he had pushed himself back into the familiarity of work. A place where he had excelled and received many accolades. He conveniently ignored the failures that had been a part of his work and chose to focus on the successes instead. At least then he could push aside nagging thoughts of what could have been. If his work hadn't driven away first his brother and then later his wife and son.

As he pushed the chair in towards the desk he noticed his left hand trembled slightly. He frowned as he realised that was becoming an almost daily occurrence.

* * *

"A penny for your thoughts."

"Huh?"

Bridger looked up to see Kristin watching him. He had the good grace to look embarrassed as he realised his mind had wandered off. He dropped the fork he had been absently twisting between his fingers and it clattered onto his plate.

Kristin smiled but said nothing, allowing him the room to speak if he wanted to. She knew exactly what was going on with his thoughts and didn't need a penny or anything else to tell her he was thousands of miles away. He had managed to keep focused while on duty but now that he was off duty and in the privacy of his own quarters he had allowed the guard to slip.

"Sorry, I know I promised you dinner but I'm just not much use for dinner conversation tonight." He picked up his fork and carefully realigned it on the plate neatly next to his knife.

"_Military discipline!" _she frowned. When important things are out of your control, fall back to what you can control. No matter how insignificant.

"He _will_ be alright you know." Her matter-of-fact tone caught his attention and he looked back up. "It's Paris, not the Amazonian Confederation. Civilised people, good food, law and order."

Bridger smiled in spite of himself and nodded at her. "Yeah, I guess the worst thing anybody will do is feed him snails!"

"Escargot is delicious, although somehow I think Lucas would be more at home with a burger."

"Well, he _is_ a teenager." The smile slipped slightly. "And that's what worries me. He's just a kid and he's had a coupla huge bombshells dropped on him. First his father's health problems and then his … "lost" family. I just wish he had somebody with him."

"Somebody like … ah … _you_ maybe?"

"You know it's not my place and besides, he didn't want me to go with him. If he did he would have waited until my leg was properly healed and I could fly."

"That doesn't mean you don't still want to be there." Kristin watched him closely, knowing that she was on slippery ground. The line was blurring between ship's doctor and close friend. She knew him very well but sometimes she still had to keep her observations to herself. There had been times when she had overstepped the line.

"I just want to make sure he's all right. That's all I ever wanted for him." He pushed back his chair and stood up. His leg throbbed slightly as he put weight on it. The cast chafed at his knee but he ignored it as he began to pace across the room.

"Dammit Kris, he shut out his own father and he made it clear he didn't want me with him. Even Krieg didn't get any more details."

"Nathan, whether you like it or not, that's Lucas' normal response. When he makes up his mind about something it would be easier to dam the Nile than stop him. When it's personal, he plays everything close to the chest. When he's ready he'll let you in. In the meantime there are some things he needs to do alone."

The captain stopped his pacing and turned to face her. As usual she had summed it up accurately. That didn't mean he liked it any better.

* * *

Ben jumped slightly as the alarm went off on his watch. He had been sorting through a supply order and was having trouble finding some of the stock. Military supply channels were usually totally accurate but civilian ones sometimes got sloppy. He wondered how some people kept their jobs but then he smiled ruefully as he remembered the worst that could happen to them was to be fired. "Losing" part of an inventory wouldn't involve a court-martial.

He glanced again at his watch before getting back to the next box.

"The eagle has landed," he whispered to himself.

Well the flight to Paris had anyway. Lucas would be stepping out into Charles de Gaulle airport anytime now.

"_I hope you find what you're looking for, kid." _

* * *

Isabeau Wallace smiled nervously at her sister. The "landed" sign had silently ticked over above her head at least half an hour ago. The butterflies dancing around in her stomach threatened to make her sick. She regretted the third cup of coffee she had drunk but she had needed something to do while waiting for the flight to come in. Of course getting to the airport over ninety minutes early didn't help but she was too excited to wait at home any longer. Excited and anxious.

The thought of meeting Matt's nephew had brought out a flood of unexpected emotions. From what few pictures she had of him it was obvious Lucas physically resembled his uncle. She wondered for the thousandth time how alike they were in other ways. Or was he more like his father? A man she didn't really know because her husband had cut him out of their lives. She frowned as she thought again about how much she could or should share with Lucas. How much did he already know? Did she have the right to speak ill of his father? Or was it just best to let sleeping dogs lie? Couldn't she just enjoy the idea of having a new nephew?

"Issy? Are you all right?" Monique eyed her younger sister with concern. She wasn't so sure that inviting Lucas to visit was a good idea but her little sister was always the stubborn one. She could win any argument by either playing the sweet, innocent card or when that failed, she would just simply dig her heels in.

Isabeau smiled back at her. "Of course. Just thinking about how complicated families are."

"Issy, there was a reason Matt changed his name to Wallace. He wanted to leave that part of his life behind him. Maybe this isn't such a good idea. You could be re-opening old wounds."

"Well it's a little late for that. There's a young man over there who looks an awful lot like this photo." She waved the photo in front of her sister before whispering at her, "Now behave!"

Monique nodded silently and reluctantly followed her sister towards the blonde teenager who was coming through the Customs door. He glanced around, looking rather lost in the sea of people.

_**A/N Yes I know it's short, just setting the scene. The chapters will get longer, I promise.**_


	2. Chapter 2

**Thankyou to everyone for your reviews. As always, I love to hear what you think.**

**To Shudunedus, I guess I assumed military supply channels were efficient mainly because my brother-in-law runs his home with military precision (so glad I don't live there!) Anyhow you'll be happy to know that at this stage I have no plans to hurt Ben, but Joxer knows that my promises in that area don't necessarily mean much since my planned story often heads off target as I write it. My characters do have a naughty habit of developing a mind of their own.**

**I have never written a death fic but this story may just be the exception. I haven't decided yet so we'll just have to see how the characters behave.**

**Chapter Two**

_He could hear voices. There were frightened voices. And someone yelling something._

_Images floated past that never quite came into focus. Somehow his subconscious managed to suppress them._

_He could also make out muffled sounds. _

_Like hammering._

_No._

_Hands banging desperately on perspex._

_It all swirled together into a garbled cacophony that made no sense and yet the air of desperation was all too obvious. Somewhere deep in his mind he knew where he was, he just didn't want to allow it to surface again._

_As he tossed back and forth in his sleep the voices grew louder. The words were still unclear but the anger and accusation behind them was not. It was his fault. People were dying and it was all his fault._

_Everything seemed to move in slow motion. Just as he felt he was getting a grasp on the images it all shifted and changed again. As he struggled against that elusive quality that dreams have he clutched desperately at what he could hold onto. A face. _

"_Don't worry, we'll be done soon." _

_The face showed doubt. And fear._

_Soon. _

_They said they'd be done soon._

_But they weren't done soon enough. Time was running out and there was nothing he could do to stop it. _

_Finally the hands stopped their banging and he didn't know which was worse; the banging or the silence._

Suddenly he awoke and sat bolt upright on the bed. Sweat trickled down his face and he found he was panting for breath. Adrenaline coursing through his body made his heart pound violently. He rolled sideways off the bed and his bare feet hit the cold floor. He shivered in spite of the fact he was sweating profusely. As he rubbed his hands over his face he found he was shaking uncontrollably.

He debated getting a drink of water but then thought better of it. He needed a drink all right but water just wasn't going to cut it. As he trudged out to the kitchen he glanced over at the oven clock.

3:27.

He couldn't help but run the mental calculations on the time zones. Lucas would be in Paris by now. He didn't want to think about it but it seemed his subconscious wasn't going to make it that easy. This nightmare hadn't reared its ugly head in many years but for the past few weeks it had been an almost nightly visitor.

Lawrence poured himself a large scotch, took a sip and headed for the lounge. No matter what he did he couldn't shake the voices from his dream. Long-dead voices that he thought were safely buried. He had managed to silence them for years but tonight they had been re-awakened and they whispered spiteful words in his ear. Accusations and threats.

He gulped down the contents of his glass and headed back to get the bottle. Somehow he needed to drown out the voices.

And the guilt.

* * *

Lucas looked back and forth between the two women in front of him. Both were smiling at him but only one of them really meant it. He could see from the wariness in her eyes that Monique was smiling more out of politeness than genuine feeling. As he stored that piece of information away for future reference he looked back towards the other woman. Although he had spoken a few times with her by vid-phone it still didn't prepare him to meet his aunt in person. He could see that in her youth she would have been considered a beautiful woman. Sadness was now permanently etched into her features but when she smiled up at him he caught a glimpse of who she had once been.

"Lucas?" She held out a hand towards him as he nodded.

"Um, yes ma'am."

No, not ma'am. That reminds me of my Granny!" A hint of mischief ran through her words but he wasn't quite sure what he should call her. "Remember I told you already, it's Isabeau or Issy. I'm too young for ma'am!"

"OK." He smiled at her, thankful she was trying to ease the awkwardness of the situation.

"And this is my sister, Monique."

Lucas held out a hand and smiled at the other woman. She smiled back but he could see the guard was still up. He decided he couldn't really blame her. After what little he had been told of the whole Wolenczak family saga, it wasn't surprising that he wasn't exactly welcomed with open arms. He was just grateful that Isabeau had agreed for him to come at all. She could easily have shut the door on him and he would have been left with his father's heavily edited story and a million unanswered questions.

He barely registered the details of his surroundings as they headed out of the airport. Normally his curiosity would have had him absorbing everything but he was too tired to really care. He hefted his bag over his shoulder and followed his aunt as she pointed them towards the escalator.

"You're traveling light," Isabeau nodded towards his single bag.

"The military!" Lucas grinned at her. "It must be rubbing off."

He didn't tell her it had taken him three days to pack. That was after packing and unpacking everything at least four times. He didn't want to seem too eager and overstay his welcome while not really knowing how long he would be there. In the end Ben had managed to organise the piles and he had left the _seaQuest _with a single duffle bag.

As they reached the top floor Monique signaled for a taxi. She climbed into the front passenger seat allowing her sister to sit in the back with their guest. She joined in the conversation but spent most of the trip surreptitiously observing the teenager behind her.

"It must be strange living aboard a military vessel at your age."

Isabeau raised a warning eyebrow at her sister's question. They had both wondered how Lucas came to be aboard the _seaQuest_ but had agreed they would go cautiously. The family dynamic was strained enough and she really wanted a chance to at least fix some of it.

"Well at first it was but it's actually kinda cool." Lucas continued to tell them about his life on a submarine as they drove out of the city. Under other circumstances a new place would have had his full attention but nerves and jetlag combined to quash his natural curiosity. There would be time for sightseeing later but for now he had other concerns.

* * *

"Will you _please_ hold still!" Kristin looked up over the rims of her glasses and frowned. "Honestly!" she muttered. "I don't want to have to be stitching you back up again."

Nathan rolled his eyes at her and Doctor Levin smothered a laugh as he headed back into the lab.

"There." She lifted the newly separated cast aside and laid it on the end of the examination table. The captain said nothing as she gently probed the length of his shin.

"That's healed up nicely," she smiled up at him. "We'll have you tap dancing in no time."

"Ha!" he snorted back at her. "Just so long as I can get back to walking unhindered I'll be happy."

"Well you are still going to need some physio to get the muscle back in shape but otherwise it all looks good." Suddenly her face turned serious as she looked him over.

"You were very lucky," she said softly. Her breath caught in her throat as she remembered just how close she had come to losing both him and Lucas. She looked up and quickly put on a smile before he could say anything in response.

"All right, let's give this leg of yours a try shall we? On your feet."

The captain slid forward on the bed until his feet were on the floor and then he slowly stood up. After eight weeks in a cast it felt strange to be free of it. The muscle had wasted a little and he gingerly stepped forward onto his injured leg. Although there was no longer any pain the leg muscles and ligaments still felt stiff. He awkwardly moved across the room but gradually the movement became a little smoother and more natural. He could see why he would need physio but for now he was just very happy to have the cast off.

* * *

"So? How's he doing?"

Tim waited impatiently for Ben to answer his question. Everyone else at the table seemed to have stopped eating or talking as well and turned to hear the answer.

Ben shrugged his shoulders slightly and put on his best nonchalant face.

"Long flights, a delay in Singapore, food's better than here. Not that that's hard!" He flipped over the "meat" thing on his plate and eyed it suspiciously.

"Ben!" Katie elbowed him. "How is he _doing_?"

He looked around the table and frowned. The truth was he didn't really know. Lucas had been very vague during their one short vid-phone conversation.

"Well he's still there so they must be getting along all right I guess."

"You guess?" Tim looked at him suspiciously. "You mean you don't know?"

Ben sighed before shaking his head. "The kid's been really secretive since the whole incident at Banden Station. Something major happened. No, not the whole nearly dying bit," he quickly added as he saw the looks on the faces around him. "Something happened before we even got to the station. Didn't it strike anybody else as strange that the elusive Lawrence Wolenczak suddenly decided to make a family visit?"

He paused to see if anyone would answer but he just got general nods. They had all thought it was strange but then the whole drama at the station had played out and things had turned deadly. Nobody had forgotten the first view on the HR probe of two motionless bodies, wedged under a fallen railing. Katie still felt sick each time she closed her eyes and relived the image. She had trouble shaking the idea that they were almost too late.

Ben carefully chose his words, knowing that Lucas hadn't given him a huge chunk of the story. "Lucas was angry at his father. No, not angry, furious. At first I thought he was being pulled off the _seaQuest_ and his father had come to get him. Later I thought it was weird how Doctor Wolenczak reacted so badly to the air pressure on the station. There was something wrong with him other than the rapid decompression."

Tim nodded thoughtfully. "Do you suppose he's sick?"

"Maybe." Ben had been thinking the same thing and had even asked Lucas. Not that he got a satisfactory answer but even that was enough to confirm for him that something was definitely not right.

"Maybe that's why he didn't go to Paris with Lucas?" Katie wondered aloud.

"Actually I think it was more a case of Lucas didn't want him to go." Ben had tried putting the pieces together based on what little Lucas had confided to him. Something else had been bothering him from the start. "Did anybody else know Lucas had family in Paris?"

Before anybody could answer, the captain walked into the mess. For the first time in nearly two months he was walking without a pronounced limp. Katie nodded towards him. "More to the point, did _he_ know?"

* * *

Lucas closed his eyes and let the scent waft up to him. Even though at home he was underage to be drinking it seemed that wine was commonplace on French dining tables. His uncle had been an amateur collector and his aunt seemed quite keen for him to sample some of the local vintages. Most of the whites had not been to his taste but this particular merlot was growing on him.

He leaned back into the chair and slowly swirled the liquid around the glass before taking another sip. The chair was old and stretched but surprisingly comfortable. He opened his eyes and was surprised to see Isabeau staring at him. He frowned slightly, wondering if he had done something to offend her.

"I'm sorry," she blinked and looked away. He noticed a hint of tears and wondered what he had done to upset her.

She turned back and smiled. "We used to sit out here most evenings and talk. Talking usually required a bottle of wine … or two."

Lucas said nothing, hoping she would continue. Bit by bit he had been picking up details of his Uncle Matthew. He decided he would have liked the man and couldn't quell the sense of anger he felt towards his father's cover-up.

"You remind me of Matt when he was young and for a moment there I forgot that …" her voice trailed away.

"How did you meet?" Lucas asked.

"We ran into each other. Quite literally!" she laughed at the memory. "I was working at the Sorbonne when Matt was invited in as a guest lecturer. He was looking for the lecture hall and had gone to the wrong one. As he was racing to get to the right one he came running around a corner and ran into me. I helped him find his way to his lecture and he offered to take me for a coffee later to apologise."

"How long ago was that?"

"About nine years ago. We went out for a coffee which turned into dinner and then ended up going for a walk along the river. By the time the sun came up we each knew we had found our soul mate."

Lucas smiled at the faraway look on her face. He had never really believed in love at first sight, although Ben had assured him it had happened to him at least three times.

"So, if it's not too personal a question, did you not want to have children?"

Isabeau smiled sadly. "Oh, it was never a question of not wanting them. It just wasn't meant to be."

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to intrude. I was just wondering if there was any chance I had any more surprise family."

She caught the tone in his voice and leaned over to pat his hand. "I wish it could have been different Lucas. Matthew would have liked you. I know he was certainly proud of you."

Lucas tried not to let his anger spill out in his words. "I still don't really know why you knew all about me but I didn't even know you existed! My father only gave me a partial answer. Please, I need to know the whole story and you are the only one who can fill it in for me."

Isabeau silently stood up and walked into the kitchen. Lucas looked anxiously after her, afraid that he had crossed the line and offended her. As he debated what to do she walked back through the door with a bottle of wine in her hand.

"I can't tell you everything because much of it happened before I met your uncle but if you really want to know, this is a long story. I don't know about you but I need another glass of wine."

_**A/N A nice merlot sounds pretty good to me too. I'll be back later …**_


	3. Chapter 3

**The NSPCB is on the job so Ben is still in one piece. Promise! But then I'm only three chapters in …**

**Thankyou for reviewing. It always makes my day.**

**Chapter Three**

Bridger glanced up at the knock on his hatch. He closed the report he had been trying to finish reading and walked over to answer it.

"Um, sorry to bother you, Sir but … ," Ben paused in the doorway. "Could I have a few minutes of your time?"

"Come in, Lieutenant." The captain stepped back from the door and gestured for Ben to enter. He closed the door behind him and slowly turned to face the younger man. One look at his face was enough for the captain to know what the topic of conversation would be.

"What can I do for you?"

Ben wanted to blurt out the multiple questions running through his thoughts but managed to restrain himself. The speculation amongst Lucas' friends had reached the point where they all wanted, no, needed answers and the best place to get them was from the one person who should know.

Bridger was well aware of Krieg's expectations but knew he was going to be disappointed. After all, he couldn't shed any light on what he didn't know and he couldn't reveal what he was ethically bound to keep secret.

"Well Sir, we've … I mean … well the truth is, Captain, Lucas' friends are worried about him."

"In what way?"

Ben frowned as he looked back at the captain. His years as the morale officer had made him an expert in reading body language and usually Bridger was an open book when it came to Lucas. Something was different this time. It made his senses prick up as he wondered what was going on.

"Well, for starters, nobody has heard how his vacation is going. No postcards, only one short vidcall where he didn't really say much. The truth is that we think there's maybe something wrong and he's not letting anybody in on it."

The captain listened as he spoke but didn't immediately answer.

"I don't mean this to sound nosy, Captain, but Lucas never mentioned any family in Paris before and, well things were pretty strange with his Dad being here and now he's just … gone! There's just something about this whole thing that isn't sitting right and I guess it'd make us all feel less concerned if there's anything you could tell us."

Bridger walked back towards his desk and dropped the report folder he had been reading. He turned back to face Ben, carefully weighing what he was about to say.

"Ben, I'm glad you look out for Lucas and take such an interest in him. The truth is, I didn't know about his family either until recently. With everything that happened at Banden Station Lucas decided he needed some time away from the _seaQuest _and an opportunity to visit his family came up. I thought some R and R would be good for him so I agreed. I'm sure he's just busy exploring all the tourist places and hasn't had time to contact us more. Don't worry, Lieutenant, he'll be back before you know it. Now if you'll excuse me I have some reports that need my attention."

The smile was friendly enough but Ben could sense he was being shut down and herded out.

"Yes, Sir, thankyou for your time." He headed towards the hatch and then turned back. "It's just that we all care about him. He's like family, you know?"

Bridger nodded as Ben shut the door behind him. "I know," he whispered to the empty room.

He picked up the report and thumbed it open again. He sat down at the desk and ran his hands through his hair. There was no doubt about it. The UEO had completed their preliminary investigations into the collapse of Banden Station and there was conclusive proof the cause had been the catastrophic failure of the aquatubes. When it had first been put forward as the cause he had felt sick at the thought of it. People were dead because his design had failed. The report before him said there was evidence of sabotage.

"It doesn't make them any less dead!" he growled as he flipped the folder shut.

* * *

As he walked slowly down the corridor Ben kept rehashing their conversation. Something was bugging him but he couldn't put his finger on it. It had been a surprise that Bridger didn't know about Lucas' family but that wasn't it. He scratched his forehead in frustration but continued walking.

Suddenly he stopped in his tracks.

"_I'm sure he's just busy exploring all the tourist places and hasn't had time to contact us more."_

"Contact _us!_" He frowned as he continued on towards his quarters. He could understand that Lucas hadn't been in better contact with him. Disappointed maybe, but he could understand it. But Lucas hadn't been in contact with Bridger either. Now he _knew_ something was wrong.

* * *

Bridger sat and tapped his fingers on the cover of the report folder. Somebody had sabotaged the station. There was still no evidence to explain why or who was responsible. He pushed the folder aside and stood up. He was supposed to be off duty but the idea of relaxing just wasn't even a remote thought. While the report was unsettling he knew that the conversation with Krieg was the real cause of his restlessness. As he paced the length of his quarters he decided he needed to talk to someone. It wasn't a question of needing guidance or a sounding board so he didn't bother with the professor; rather he just needed a listening ear. Somebody who wouldn't complicate the conversation with questions he couldn't answer.

It wasn't long before he arrived at the moonpool and he was pleased to see Darwin slowly circling underneath the water. As he approached the edge and leaned over the dolphin lifted his head in greeting.

"Hey, pal." Darwin nudged his hand. "How goes the fishing?"

"Darwin always catches fish."

"Of course you do." Bridger smiled at him. Even though the mechanical voice had no inflection he could swear he heard a hint of boasting in there. He still marveled at the vocorder and the way Lucas had allowed him to interact better with his friend.

"When is Lucas back from his other pod?"

"His other pod? I guess that would be how he explained it. You miss him too huh?"

"No-one to swim with."

"He'll be back soon." The captain watched as Darwin went back to swimming slowly around the moonpool. He seemed content with that answer since Bridger had never lied to him before.

"At least I hope he will."

The words were barely more than a whisper. In actual fact he wasn't at all sure that Lucas planned to return soon or any other time for that matter. His world had been badly shaken and whether he chose to have the genetic testing done or not, Bridger knew that Lucas would never again take time for granted. Life was just too short.

* * *

"So …" Isabeau paused, "how much did your father tell you?"

"Not a whole lot." Lucas frowned as he recalled one of the few conversations he had with his father on board the _seaQuest. _

_The problem was that we saw the world through very different eyes. I won't drag out the details but Matthew and I had a falling out over a contract we were working on. It was military and top secret classification._

"They were working together on a top secret military project and something went wrong. They had an argument. I guess it must have been pretty bad because they never spoke to each other again." He looked up at his aunt, hoping she could fill in the blanks for him. After all, two brothers didn't cut each other off for twenty years for no good reason.

Isabeau took a sip of wine and leaned back into her chair. There was no easy way to tell him the truth and yet something in her made her hold back. What she was about to tell him could destroy another relationship. Lawrence had buried the story, even going to the point of hiding his brother's existence. What right did she have to dig it all up again? Matt was gone and nothing could be done to salvage things with his brother. As she looked over at Lucas she saw the pleading in his eyes.

"Well from what little Matthew told me, he and Lawrence were quite different as children. I think their father was very driven and he pushed them both to do well in their studies. They both had a passion for new discoveries but their methods were very different."

Lucas nodded at her. His father had already told him that much. "Dad told me his mother said she thought a cuckoo had left an egg in their family."

"Mmmm, Matthew was very mathematically minded and was drawn to computers. He liked to run simulations of possible scenarios and make judgements based on the results. Lawrence was more interested in testing things by experimenting. He felt that real life scenarios and actual data were better than theoretical data."

Lucas smiled a little as he realised he had the same problems working with his father. They approached a problem from different angles and often ended up butting heads over the right way to proceed. "It sounds familiar."

Isabeau stopped and waited for him to elaborate.

"Well, Dad and I find it difficult to work together sometimes because we think differently. He says I waste too much time looking at the "what ifs?" but I don't like surprises. When I run something I like to know how it's expected to perform before I start. Or at least have a fair idea."

"I don't know the details of what they were working on, other than it was some kind of energy project."

"My father is working at World Power now. They are working towards a free, renewable energy source."

Isabeau nodded. "I've seen the press reports. I don't know about now but back then, if the military and the government were backing it you can be sure it was ultimately weapons related."

Lucas stared at her. All of his father's talk about his work had always been about renewable energy, not weapons.

"Weapons? Are you sure?"

"Lucas, you have to remember I'm talking about things that happened a long time ago. Before you were born. Matt said they had several differences of opinion over the project but they managed to resolve them and keep going."

"So what changed?"

"There was an accident. Some people were injured and three of their co-workers died. I don't know what happened because Matt wouldn't talk about it but … I do know he blamed his brother."

"For the accident … or their deaths?"

"Both, I think."

Isabeau paused, waiting to see Lucas' reaction before going any further. He had gone pale and was tightly gripping the edge of his chair. For a few moments he said nothing, clearly thinking through the information he had just been given.

"I'm sorry Lucas. I hate being the one to tell you these things but you …"

"I did ask!"

* * *

_The massive door swung shut and the internal locking system slid silently into place. Hands pounded desperately on the perspex window._

_His legs were like rubber as he tried to run for the exit. Overhead speakers screamed out a warning as the klaxon drowned out voices. _

_Somebody grabbed at his arm._

_More hands clawed at his legs and threatened to trip him up. He kicked frantically against them and tried to run but a door swung shut in front of him. _

_On the other side he could see a face. _

"_I told you we'd be done soon." The accusation in the tone was undeniable. _

_There was no time._

"_I will never forgive you!"_

_He pounded on the window._

_Time had all run out._

"_Let us out! Please! Let us out!"_

_Another face appeared at the window._

_Tears streaked her face as she mouthed the words, "I love you."_

_Screams echoed around the small room, competing with the klaxon._

_He held his hand on the door release, even as desperate hands tried to pry it off._

"_It's too late! We can't open that door or we'll all die!"_

_He never saw the punch coming from behind him and the room suddenly went black._

He awoke to find the sheets twisted around his legs. His heart was pounding and the overwhelming sense of dread made him dizzy. He reached out to the bedside table and fumbled frantically for the light. The idea of staying in the dark had him on the verge of panic. The dark equaled death.


	4. Chapter 4

**It's amazing what you can find on the net. 360 degree views from the top of the Eiffel Tower! Makes me want to go and see it. If only it was a tad closer to home.**

**Thankyou to all the lovely reviewers. You are brilliant.**

**Chapter Four**

Lucas stared out at the view below him. There were countless buildings that exceeded the height of the Eiffel Tower now but there was still something captivating about it. Its unique design was instantly recognisable anywhere in the world and it was on the must-see list of anyone who came to Paris. Isabeau had insisted it was time for Lucas to see for himself.

"Over there is Notre Dame Cathedral." She pointed out the massive building with its two towers. Even from that distance it still looked to be an imposing building.

"Can't see the hunchback anywhere," he grinned at her.

"Well I suppose he must be sleeping."

As they continued around the platform, taking in the magnificent view, Lucas noticed that even though Isabeau was animated in her explanations, Monique seemed quiet by comparison. He wasn't sure yet if she was just reserved or there was something more to it. When Isabeau suggested she go and order some coffees for all of them, he got his answer. Monique stood beside him and gazed out over the landscape. Suddenly she turned towards him.

"Why are you here?"

Lucas felt his stomach lurch at the directness of the question. There was nothing friendly in it.

"I came to meet my aunt."

Monique looked him up and down as if sizing up his answer.

"My sister has been through enough grief and trauma to last a lifetime. I won't have you adding to that." The protectiveness in her tone was crystal clear but he was confused about why she would think he was there to cause trouble.

"I don't know what you think I want but I only found out I had an uncle recently. My father lied to me. He denied me any knowledge of my Uncle Matthew or your sister."

Lucas shook his head at her. "I just wanted to come and see for myself. I will never get to know my uncle but I would like the chance to get to know my aunt."

"Your uncle left his old life behind and closed the book on it. He changed his name and vowed never to see your father again. That included you."

Lucas licked his lips and debated whether to push this any further. Finally desperation won out over caution.

"Why? Please! Tell me why? Isabeau says she doesn't know but I think she does."

"My sister is too soft-hearted and she wants to protect you."

"From what?"

"The truth. The reason Matthew refused to see his brother ever again was because he was a murderer."

Lucas felt the ground beneath him begin to sway and he staggered back from her.

"My father may be a lot of things but that … that just … it can't be …"

He gripped the railing beside him and tried to slow his breathing. He didn't hear Isabeau approaching from behind and jumped as she touched his arm.

"Fresh coffees to … Lucas? Are you all right? You aren't bothered by heights are you? You didn't say anything but we can go down if you like."

He stared at her, looking for all the world like a deer caught in the headlights. Isabeau looked questioningly at her sister and suddenly understanding dawned.

"What did you do?" she hissed at her. "Monique, what did you do?"

* * *

It was the first time in a long time that he had done it. In fact he couldn't remember the last time he had called in sick. Minor colds and insignificant illnesses couldn't keep him away from his work. Even when he broke his arm the previous year he had still managed to keep the current project on the go, albeit with a little rearranging of lab assistants.

Lawrence sat at the dining table and stared at the mug of coffee in front of him. His stomach recoiled at the smell and he pushed it away from him. It wasn't that he had resorted to the scotch bottle again the night before but he still felt hungover. An acute lack of sleep over the last two weeks had finally caught up with him and his body was responding by refusing to move. The tremors in his hands seemed to intensify each time he tried to will them away so instead he tried to think about something else. Anything else.

His mind seemed to alternate between racing madly through old memories and shutting down as if to block out those same memories. His thoughts wandered back to his last conversation with Lucas before leaving the _seaQuest._

"_Lucas, I can't undo what's been done, no matter how much I may want to. I know right now you are angry at me but you have to believe me, I never meant for things to be this way. There was no way I could foresee what would happen."_

"_You cut off your own brother! You lied to me! All my life! Why do you think I want to hear anything more you have to say?"_

He closed his eyes and sighed as he remembered the look on his son's face. Mixed in with the anger was a look of … something he didn't really want to define … disgust? Maybe that wasn't an unreasonable response. He shook his head as he tried to shake the memory loose. He had never made a conscious effort to make Lucas proud of him but he felt sick at the idea his son may be ashamed of him.

It seemed that the more he tried to explain, the more he stumbled over his explanations and the more Lucas pulled away from him. He tried to warn him off going to Paris but it was like pouring petrol on a fire. It just fueled his son's anger and made him even more determined to go. Finally Lawrence realised there was no stopping the inevitable and had left the _seaQuest _in defeat. He knew the genie was out of the bottle and he feared the consequences. Had he lost his son as well as his brother?

He pushed the chair out from the table and stood up. As he reached out to pick up the mug his hand was shaking so badly that he knocked it over. Coffee spilled over the table and ran onto the floor.

Rage flowed up from the pit of his stomach. A sense of helplessness and frustration poured over him. He picked up the mug and threw it with all he could muster, against the farthest wall. As the pieces shattered he dropped to his knees on the floor.

"Oh, God, what did I unleash?"

* * *

"OK, you need to try that again for me, only hold it for longer this time."

Bridger flexed his foot forward and tried to hold it steady. The tendons had contracted while his leg was in plaster and the physio was supposed to help gradually re-stretch them. He pulled a face as the young lieutenant shook her head at him.

"Longer. I know it hurts but the only way for this to work is pushing past the limit a little at a time. I'm sorry, Captain but there is no quick fix, just exercises."

Suddenly his PAL began to beep in his pocket and he grinned as he pulled it out.

"Saved by the bell!" He leaned back against the chair and put his foot down as he answered, "Bridger here."

O'Neill's voice came back at him. "Captain, sorry to disturb you but there's a call for you. It's Lucas."

Bridger smiled at the undisguised enthusiasm in O'Neill's voice. "Well put him through to medbay, Lieutenant."

He turned back to the doctor who was waiting to continue the physio regime. "I'm sorry, this will have to be the end of the session."

"Yes, Sir, I'll reschedule you for tomorrow morning."

"Fine," he nodded, while waiting impatiently for her to leave. He headed over to the vidscreen and turned it on. Suddenly the screen filled with a larger-than-life image.

"Hey, Kiddo. Or should I say, bonjour?"

Lucas smiled back at him but even from there the captain could sense the hesitation.

"How's it going over there?"

"Well, pretty good so far. Isabeau has made me really welcome."

Bridger nodded at him. "That's great. So, um, have you met any other family? You wanted to know if you had cousins."

"No, they never had any kids. But Isabeau has got an older sister Monique. She's been here a bit too but … " he paused, looking for the right words.

"But what?"

"Well I get the feeling she isn't too keen on the Wolenczaks."

"Obviously she just needs some more time; to get to know you." The captain smiled encouragingly but Lucas still didn't look convinced.

"I'm not sure she particularly wants to get to know me. My father isn't exactly flavour-of-the-month with her."

"So, ahh … on that front … any answers to your questions?"

The captain felt like he was floundering in the dark since Lucas hadn't really given him much information before leaving. The fact that Lucas knew nothing about his uncle until recently was enough to show the family dynamics were very strained but there was no way to know just how bad they were. Bridger had been concerned Lucas was walking into a family minefield but he knew that ignorance rarely protected anybody. Information may not always bring comfort but it usually helped bring direction.

"Some."

"C'mon, Lucas, give me _something_ here. Are you all right?"

Lucas swallowed and glanced away before speaking. "I'm fine. I just need some more time. I'm starting to get some answers but they just bring up more questions. It's like … like …" His voice drifted away. There was no way he was prepared to say anything about Monique's accusations until he had at least had a chance to disprove them.

Bridger stepped up closer to the screen. "Lucas, whatever's going on, maybe I can help you."

He knew better than to push the teenager so he just waited to see how Lucas would respond.

He chewed at his lower lip as if deciding what to say next. "I won't be coming back for a while yet. If that's OK?" It sounded as though he was asking permission but Bridger got the sense if he said "no" that it wouldn't make any difference anyway.

Lucas swallowed and pushed on, his words tumbling out as if to defy anyone to stop him. "I've booked a flight to Alaska and I'll be leaving here the day after tomorrow."

"What's in Alaska?"

"A scientist who used to work with my father. He was working on a project with both him and my uncle and I think he's the only one who can really give me the rest of the picture."

The captain waited for Lucas to continue but he realised nothing more was coming from this conversation.

"Lucas, have you spoken with your father since you left?"

"Not yet."

"Does he know you are going to Alaska?"

"I'll let him know."

Bridger frowned as he wondered how long it would take for Lucas to get around to it.

Suddenly the vidscreen split into two images; Lucas on the left and Commander Ford on the right.

"Sorry to interrupt you, Sir but there's an urgent call from Admiral Noyce."

"Put it through Jonathan. Sorry, Kiddo, gotta go. Just call me if you need anything, all right?"

Lucas just nodded silently before cutting the link.

**A/N So … is he or isn't he? Hmmm …. nothing is ever really black and white … is it?**


	5. Chapter 5

**Well here's a few more answers for your questions. And probably a few more questions as well! Sorry for the delay in updating but we've got a guest staying and I've been busy. So anyhow I hope you enjoy the next bit.**

**Chapter Five**

"Bill, what are you saying? That somebody is trying to discredit me?"

"Well you have to admit it's a distinct possibility although it's not our only theory."

"I patented the design years ago. Why now? No, there has to be some other reason for this."

"Three stations, all sabotaged through the aquatubes."

Bridger shook his head as he slowly walked the length of the wardroom. A personal vendetta seemed unlikely but somebody was quite obviously using his design to kill people. Maybe that wasn't the main plan. Maybe they were just expendable but whatever the case, they were still dead.

He clenched his fists as he walked. God help whoever was behind it when he got his hands on them.

* * *

Clouds streaked past the window, at times totally obscuring the view. Not that he was actually looking at the view. Instead Lucas was staring through the window, totally lost in thought. The last two days seemed to merge into a blur. Specific words and actions got lost in the haze but the overriding need to escape had pushed him onto the plane.

Escape Paris. Escape Monique's accusation. Escape the dreadful fear that she may have spoken the truth. Nothing Isabeau had said afterwards had been able to fully allay that fear.

He had no clear recollection of the trip back from the Eiffel Tower. He just knew that somehow he had arrived back at Isabeau's home. There was next to no conversation in the taxi as each of them tried to work through the things that needed to be said in private. He walked through the front door in a daze. Before he could say anything his aunt had rounded on her sister.

"How dare you? I asked you to stay out of this!"

Monique stood defiantly and stared back. "How can I stay out of it any longer? You encouraged him to come here. What did you think he was going to ask about? He wanted to know about his father and you obviously weren't going to tell him anything!"

"So you thought you knew better. Always the older sister who knows better!"

"You kept me in the dark about Matthew's family just as Lucas's father lied to him. It wasn't until I read through Matt's journals that I got to the truth. You want to hide that from him now? Hasn't there been enough covering up in your family?"

Something in her words broke through Lucas' numbness.

"A journal? There are journals?" he asked hopefully.

Even as Isabeau shook her head, Monique answered him.

"A lot of journals. Matt kept track of everything he was working on and always had a journal nearby. He said it was for when inspiration struck. He could write things down as he needed to. At times there were personal notations mixed in with his notes."

Lucas looked over at his aunt. She seemed frozen to the spot. "So, ahh, where are they? Maybe they can help me."

"No, Lucas." The finality in her words was obvious. "Reading words scribbled on paper without knowing the author or the context can lead you to wrong conclusions." The last words seemed directed towards her sister, even though she never took her eyes off Lucas.

"And maybe you can still come to the _right_ conclusion!" Monique countered defiantly. "What are you afraid of? That he will find out just who his father was?"

"Those things happened a long time ago. Lucas is _not_ his father. You had no right! No right! Just as you had no right to read them in the first place!"

Suddenly Lucas felt a hand on his arm and he jumped as he realised the steward had been trying to get his attention.

"I'm sorry, Sir, we are serving dinner. Would you like the chicken or the fish?"

"Oh, um, the chicken. Thanks."

He went back to staring out at the clouds even as the meal was placed before him.

* * *

"Nathan, there's something else I need to tell you."

Bridger stopped walking and moved closer to the vid-screen. His eyes narrowed as he looked at his old friend. He knew Bill was holding out on him but that also went with the territory. After all, there were some things he wasn't at liberty to reveal.

"What?" he asked suspiciously.

"Are you sure Lucas said he was heading to Alaska?"

'Absolutely. Why?" The knot in his stomach squeezed a little harder as he waited for the answer.

"Well as far as I have been able to find out, since so many of the files were sealed, is that he's possibly gone to see an ex-colleague of his father's; Doctor Nico Perez."

"Bill why can't you get into sealed files? Your clearance is high enough. And I've never heard of this Doctor Perez."

"That isn't surprising since he pretty much disappeared off the scientific scene twenty years ago. As far as the files go there are some things that are proving extremely difficult to get into. The whole thing stinks like last week's garbage but I'm still pushing it."

Nathan frowned as he resumed his pacing. Files under that kind of security meant somebody was covering their own butt, usually from something pretty significant. That kind of thing was never good news, rather it always spelled a screw-up. Probably of major proportions!

"This Perez guy, what's he doing in Alaska? Research or something else?"

Noyce sighed as he thought about how to answer that. "He was a biochemist. Nathan, the scuttlebutt 'round here says he's nuts. He's been pretty much shunned by the scientific community after a series of employment problems so he set himself up in Alaska doing who knows what! He was earning a living from writing chemistry textbooks for universities but his other work has all been self-published as it's too controversial."

"So what the hell is Lucas doing going to see him?"

"Haven't a clue but I'd be calling him back if I were you."

"Well that's easier said than done! He won't answer my calls."

* * *

Isabeau's fury had caught him by surprise. The two sisters seemed close and yet now there was an obvious wedge between them. After Monique stormed out of the house her sister had walked out the back and sat down in her favourite chair. Lucas hesitated as to whether he should follow her but finally decided that things couldn't get much worse.

He silently sat down beside her and waited. He glanced sideways at her every so often but she refused to look at him. He noticed her jawline trembling and he knew she was barely holding back tears. After what seemed like an eternity she slowly turned towards him and nodded. Tears shone in her eyes as she forced out the words.

"I promise I will tell you everything I know. You deserve the truth. Just understand that I truly don't know all the details. In fact, until Matt's funeral I had never even met your father. I'm just so sorry that Monique chose to speak to you the way she did."

Lucas tried to swallow but found his mouth was dry. He just nodded at her and waited.

"I told you they were working together on a top secret project. After Matt died we found some old journals he had kept hidden. Monique was right; he always carried a journal with him and wrote through countless ones over the years. Many of them he threw out, or tore out sections that he thought were worth keeping, but these particular ones I had never seen before. Monique actually found them and began checking through them to see if they were something I should know about. She had no idea what she was actually uncovering."

Lucas just listened as his aunt paused to regain her composure. She stood up and began to pace across the decking as though she couldn't stand the thought of sitting still.

"They were years old and had various sketches and diagrams from different projects. Towards the end of one there were several pages of writing. It was written in Matt's handwriting but it seemed scribbled. As though he had rushed it. I actually wondered if he had forgotten it was there."

Her voice quavered as she spoke but having started the conversation she seemed determined to finish it.

"I'm not sure how I first found out Matt had a brother but I do remember I was shocked he had never mentioned Lawrence. I asked him why they didn't see each other and he told me about their work together. He said there was an accident where something overloaded. It was emitting dangerous radiation levels and had to be contained. Lawrence made the decision to seal the lab while three people were still inside."

Lucas had already edged forward in his seat but he nearly fell off it as he realised the implication. His father had decided their fates. "They all died didn't they?" he whispered.

"Yes. Afterwards there was great debate about whether they could have made it out in time. According to Matthew's own journal he believed Lawrence chose to close the door too soon. He thought his brother panicked."

Lucas stood up and walked away from her. He could hardly breathe. So Monique seemed to be right. His father had caused three people's deaths. He leaned over the balcony railing and stared into the garden behind him. Suddenly another thought occurred to him.

"Have you spoken to anyone else who was there? I mean there had to be other witnesses. Somebody who could verify the story."

"To be honest, Matt didn't want to see his brother and I couldn't budge him on it. Nothing was going to change between them so I chose to let it go. I never tried to speak to anyone else who was there."

"So why did Matt have an album full of things about me? If he cut off my father, why would he show any interest in me?"

Isabeau smiled sadly. "My husband was a wonderful man but his one downfall was his stubbornness. When you were born your mother tried to reunite them by sending us photos of you. She thought it might be enough to draw them together. Unfortunately Lawrence got angry when he found out and Matthew retaliated. They had one last huge argument. Eventually Matthew came to regret that decision but stubbornness and pride stopped him from ever trying again. Then we found out he was sick and life changed dramatically for both of us. According to him the opportunity was gone. He wasn't going to guilt his brother into repairing things. Over the years he kept track of your achievements though. "

Lucas walked over towards her. Various emotions flickered across his face. "I know my father's flaws but … this? I have to know for sure. Please, think … is there anyone else you know of who was there. Anybody I could speak to?"

Isabeau frowned as she tried to remember details of something she had tried to put behind her. "Maybe in the journals. There might be something in there that could help you."

"Sir, did you want your meal rewarmed? Sir?"

Lucas jumped at the voice beside him. The hostess leaned over towards his untouched meal and pointed towards the galley.

"Would you like me to reheat your meal, Sir?"

He shook his head. "No thanks, I'm actually not hungry." He pushed the tray towards her and tried to smile. As she headed away from him he leaned down to his bag and tugged out an old blue journal. Flipping through to an earmarked page he ran a finger down the margin. Scribbled words screamed out at him from the page.

_Nico will never recover. Marta was everything to him. My God! How do I tell Nico that his life will go on when clearly it won't?_

He flipped it closed again. There was more but he had already read it and re-read it many times. It had taken hours of digging but he had managed to hack enough sealed files to find what he needed. Doctor Nico Perez.


	6. Chapter 6

**Thankyou for your reviews. I hope you are still enjoying the story because I'm having fun writing it.**

**Chapter Six**

"Captain, we're picking up a distress call."

"On speakers, Mr O'Neill."

Tim nodded as he switched the call through to the main speakers. He pulled his headset aside as the desperate call came through.

"This is Doctor Vonda Weston. If anybody can hear me we have had to abandon our research post at Morton Station. Is there any vessel in the vicinity?"

Bridger glanced at his XO. "Get me co-ordinates." Ford nodded and pulled up a viewscreen with the station marked on it.

"This is Captain Bridger of the _seaQuest. _What is your current situation?"

"Captain! Oh thank God! A section of the station flooded. We don't know why but it happened suddenly. We managed to get everyone into another section but it quickly became apparent it was going to flood too so we are currently in a seacrab. Our life support is limited as we have nine of us in here."

"Understood, Doctor." A seacrab was designed to carry four people at most and was only supposed to be used for short hops. It wasn't a transport vessel and didn't have long range life support. Doubling its intended capacity also meant halving its range.

Ford leaned in towards the captain. "That's about forty five minutes of air, Captain."

"Ortiz, get me a WSKR view."

"Coming, Sir."

Suddenly the viewscreen shifted to show a seacrab moving awkwardly through the water. The extra weight had compromised its buoyancy but it was still moving forward.

"Doctor we've got you on our WSKRs. We're sending you co-ordinates now. How long have you been in the water?"

"About twenty minutes."

Bridger frowned as he ran the mental calculations. Forty five minutes of air less the twenty already used. It was going to be a close call.

"Helm, full speed."

"Aye, Sir."

* * *

He held out his forefinger and gently stroked the rim of a vidframe. The image within it showed a young woman laughing. Her brown hair was hanging loose. It always struck him as ironic that the image he loved most of her had been snapped unintentionally. His mind wandered back to that day in the lab. An experiment had gone wrong and a beaker had shattered. The contents were splattered all over Marta. She had removed her lab coat and glasses before pulling her hair out of its customary bun. He had been teasing her about her cooking skills as she cleaned up the mess. The vidcam in his hand was still running and when they went back over the footage later to analyse their mistake he had found the image of her. She was laughing at his teasing while wagging a finger at him.

"Don't expect me to cook for you! It could be dangerous for your health!"

"Well then, my darling, we shall dine out at the finest establishments, every night."

"On our budget?" She raised an eyebrow at him as she laughed. Grad students were renowned for living on next-to-nothing.

"Well we may have to wait until we are world famous in our field but in the meantime a man can dream."

He gently placed the vidframe back on the table. "A man can dream …" he whispered.

He turned to walk out of the room and was startled by a knock at the front door. He glanced at his watch and frowned. He had lost track of the time again. It seemed like only moments ago that he had walked into his room but nearly an hour had passed. Another knock at the door downstairs jolted him into action. He jogged down the stairs and opened the front door. The blast of frigid air that blew in made him shiver.

A young man stood on the doorstep, rubbing his gloved hands together. His breathe condensed in front of him as he breathed out and his jacket hood was pulled tightly around his face. In spite of that Nico couldn't miss the eyes. The same blue eyes that had stared so callously at him all those years ago.

_It's too late! We can't open that door or we'll all die!_

He blinked as he realised the young man had said something.

"Doctor Perez? Sir, are you Doctor Nico Perez?"

He reached out a hand to wave his visitor in out of the cold. "Yes, yes … please … come in. It's freezing out there."

Lucas hesitantly stepped forward. The man was still staring at him and it was a little unnerving. Finally the suggestion of warmth made him step over the threshold and into the foyer. He jumped slightly as the door swung shut behind him and he couldn't help but feel a little like a caged rat.

His brief conversation with Perez prior to leaving Paris had been bizarre but his determination to get answers had won out over any concerns he had. The fact the man refused to appear on the vidscreen was unusual but he figured that some people were just very private. What little information he had time to dig up showed Perez to be a brilliant but strange man who had isolated himself both professionally and personally.

He glanced around the foyer. The place had an air of functionality about it with no sign of personality. There were none of the usual personal touches that made a house into a home. A coat rack and a dusty hall table were the only pieces of furniture and Perez pointed towards the rack as Lucas removed his heavy outer coat. He hung the coat and held out a hand in greeting.

"I'm Lucas Wolenczak. I spoke with you a few days ago, Sir."

Perez ignored his outstretched hand and Lucas finally dropped it. He tentatively glanced around, feeling anything but welcome in the man's home.

"Umm, I'm sorry to bother you, Sir, but … well … I think you are the only person who can help me."

"Why should I help you? I don't even know you." Perez stared coldly towards the teenager. Lucas licked his lips and tried to hide his nervousness.

"No, you don't. But … well … you knew my father and uncle. And I'm hoping you can fill in some pieces for me."

Perez stared at the earnest young face before him. "_Knew your father! I wish I'd never met the man!"_

"Yes, I knew them. A long time ago." His eyes seemed to lose focus as his thoughts wandered off.

_I will never forgive you! _The last words he ever spoke to Lawrence Wolenczak.

He saw Marta's face at the window. Tears streamed down her face as she tried desperately to communicate with him. _I love you. _The last words they ever spoke to each other.

Lucas watched the man's face contort in pain and wondered what he should say. If he hadn't been so desperate to find the truth he would have left it there and then and headed back out into the snow.

Finally Perez shook his head and stared back at Lucas. "I need a drink!"

Lucas watched as the man stalked off down the hallway. Uncertain about whether he should follow or not, he slowly headed after him.

* * *

Bridger waited impatiently for the seacrab hatch to open. Finally a woman in her late forties climbed out, followed by two men. He hurried over to them as more people emerged from the small vessel. How they managed to squeeze nine people in that tiny space was amazing but when it was a case of life or death he figured a little discomfort was reasonable.

The woman smiled at him, obvious relief written all over her face. "Thankyou, Captain. I thought we were going to have to hold our breath for a while there."

"Welcome aboard, Doctor."

"I've always wanted to see the _seaQuest_ but I would have preferred different circumstances."

As the other personnel made their way out onto the decking two crewmembers ushered them through into the corridor. The captain had medical personnel standing by but it seemed they wouldn't be needed. Instead he was anxious to get to the bottom of the most recent station flooding.

"We are on course for Morton Station. We should be there shortly. In the meantime I'd like you all to report to medbay for assessment."

Several people began to protest but he held up a hand. "Sorry, standard procedure. If you follow Ensign Wilder she will take you through to medbay. I will catch up with you when you are all done."

As the team from the station were escorted away he headed back towards the wardroom. He had another call to make.

* * *

Lucas swirled the juice in his glass before taking another sip. Perez sat across from him staring into his own glass of juice. Lucas had the feeling the doctor's glass held something more but said nothing. The man's demeanour kept changing and Lucas was having trouble keeping up with him.

At present he seemed lost in thought although earlier he had been quite animated. Perez seemed to shift from speaking happily about Marta, almost as if she were just in the next room, to sullen silence as easily as he took a sip of his drink. He had shown Lucas a vidframe with an image of a young, vivacious woman, laughing back at him. As the holographic image moved he saw her lips moving but there was no sound. He could only guess at the words but the look on her face was one of amusement. He noted the look on Nico's face as he watched the screen. He was clearly captivated by the image but suddenly his features would cloud over with pain and he would look away.

Lucas glanced at his watch and was surprised to find he had been sitting with Perez for nearly two hours. While his words were disjointed and at times incoherent, the doctor had talked about their work together. His beautiful Marta. She was a year behind him in her studies but they had met up in a lab while each was working on their own assignments. Eventually they had both gone their own way but several years later they had both gone to work on Project 214.

Perez laughed as he mentioned the project designation. The laugh didn't hold any humour however and Lucas felt a slight chill.

"What's your security clearance? Do you have authorisation to hear about top secret experiments? Maybe I will tell you but then I'll have to kill you!"

Lucas flinched as the man stared at him. The look in his eyes was frightening but it suddenly disappeared as quickly as it had come. Before he could answer, Nico started talking again.

"214! Such an innocuous number. 214. Shoulda been called Project Death. Or Playing God! That's what your father did you know. Chose to play God!"

Lucas felt his hand clench around the armrest of his chair. He had come here for answers. He just wasn't sure now if he really wanted them.

* * *

"So, how soon can you get an investigative team here?"

Noyce leaned forward in his chair. He looked tired. "They are on their way already, Nathan."

"I've got Hitchcock in there already with the hyper reality probe."

"Good. This is the quickest we've gotten to a site after an incident so hopefully you can pull up some evidence that we've missed on the others."

Bridger nodded. The other stations had all been investigated but it had been up to twenty fours before a team could get to them and a lot of vital evidence had been lost to the sea by then. Ocean currents had swept away pieces of debris and the exact method of sabotage was still to be determined. The fact that it _was_ sabotage had now been agreed upon. There was no other adequate reason why aquatubes would suddenly start to fail on different stations around the globe when they had nothing in common. They were different sizes and varying ages. Most were research stations but there were also commercial facilities. The randomness of the incidents made it impossible to predict where it may happen next.

"We need to get to the bottom of this before there is a mass panic. The news broadcasts are starting to question the safety of any underwater facility."

Bridger nodded thoughtfully. Even knowing that it was sabotage, he couldn't shake the thought that he was partially responsible. It was his design after all and people were dying because of it. He would find whoever was responsible, come hell or high water.

* * *

"I tried to get him to open the door. I pleaded with him. There was still time but he wouldn't listen." The anguish in the man's voice was heartbreaking. Lucas sat uncomfortably and listened as Nico described his fiancée's final minutes.

"Marta was still in the lab with Steven and Carl. They were trying to shut down the experiment. There was still time but Lawrence decided there wasn't and he smashed the external console with a chair. Matthew went to the upper level to try and override the system but Lawrence shut him out. He sealed the door and trapped them in the lab." His face clouded over as he recalled the events of that day.

"The radiation warning had gone off but it was set to give us warning well before critical levels. There was still time! He wouldn't listen to me. I begged him to open the door but once safety protocols are activated the door had to be manually released. That takes two people to do it but he wouldn't help me."

_Let us out! Please! Let us out!_

Nico paused and cocked his head slightly as though he was listening to someone. Lucas watched as the expression on his face changed again.

"She was so beautiful. He could see her face at the window and still he refused to open the door."

_It's too late! We can't open that door or we'll all die!_

"By the time Matthew came back it was too late. He hit Lawrence and knocked him out but by then it was too late."

Nico sobbed as he whispered the last words. "It was too late. Lawrence got to play God and he never paid for it."

Lucas leaned back in the chair. His mind was racing. No wonder his father chose to keep secrets from him.

Suddenly Nico pushed his chair away from the table and stood up. He stared at Lucas with an almost vacant look in his eyes. "I think it's time you left."

Lucas swallowed hard and tried to think of something to say. He realised there wasn't really anything he could say that would fit the circumstances so he nodded silently. As he went to get his coat he tentatively reached out a hand.

"Thankyou for your time. I'm sorry to drag up painful memories for you but I needed to know for myself."

Perez ignored him. He seemed to be lost in thought again. Lucas opened the door and let himself out into the cold. It was a short walk back to the town's only hotel but the snow was drifting back in again. Perez seemed unaware that his guest was heading out into the snow as he closed the door behind him.

He walked back towards the kitchen where the two glasses were still sitting on the table. He carefully slid a hand inside Lucas' glass and picked it up, making certain not to touch the outside of it. He carried it through into his office where he pulled out some bio-gel and began to paint it around the exterior of the glass. He muttered to himself as he worked.

"It's time he was made to pay."

* * *

Ben watched Lucas' face as he opened the package. He had been back for three days but so far he hadn't said very much to anyone about his trip. Bridger had come to see Krieg the day before and asked if he had gotten anything out of Lucas but it seemed they were both drawing a blank. It wasn't uncommon for Lucas to keep things to himself but the captain had been worried about Lucas visiting Perez. It seemed his fear was unfounded as Lucas had returned safely from his trip to Alaska.

"Whatcha got there?" he asked. Lucas frowned as he held out the notepaper.

"It's a letter from Perez. It came on today's supply run." Ben took the folded piece of paper from his hand. Written in black marker pen were seven words.

_It's time he was made to pay._

Ben frowned at him as he turned the paper over in his hand. "Time who was made to pay? For what?"

"My father, I guess." The words were flat with no emotion behind them.

Ben wasn't sure what worried him more; the implied threat or Lucas' lack of reaction. Normally the teen was inclined to overreact but this was unsettling.

"I think we need to speak to the captain."

Lucas shook his head but Ben insisted "Listen, kid, this isn't a joke. Perez is known to be a few cards short of a deck. If he's making threats then the authorities need to know. Your father needs to know."

Reluctantly Lucas stood up and headed to the captain's cabin with Ben. He had known he couldn't avoid it forever but he really didn't feel like retelling the whole story. It seemed though that it was unavoidable.

* * *

Darwin tapped on the glass of the aquatube, trying to get his friend's attention. Normally Lucas would wake up quickly in response to the signal but he seemed to be in a deep sleep. Darwin tried again but eventually decided he wasn't going to get an answer. He turned and slowly swam back up the tube. He would have to wait until morning before sharing his discovery.

Buried under a blanket on the other side of the glass, Lucas tried to roll over. He was aware that Darwin was knocking but couldn't make himself move in response. The intensity of the pain in his abdomen and lower back from the muscle spasms only increased when he moved. He tried to force himself to breathe slowly and thereby relax the muscles. Gradually the cramping began to ease a little. He knew he couldn't sit up but he managed to slide over the edge of the bunk and flopped awkwardly onto the floor. The blanket that was draped across his body got pulled down too and he clutched at a handful of fabric as the pain began to increase again.

He tried to cry out to Darwin but it was too late. The half choked out sob that came out wasn't enough for anybody to hear him. He closed his eyes again and wondered what time it was. How long it would be before anybody missed him and came looking. His mind drifted as he tried to breathe through the pain. A soft tapping began to seep through his thoughts.

At first he thought he was imagining it but slowly he realised the noise was real. He opened his eyes a little and saw Darwin tapping on the glass again. Lucas tried to push himself up a little off the floor but the pain in his abdomen felt like somebody had skewered him. He cried out before dropping his head back to the floor. The dolphin stared back at him for a moment before turning and swimming off down the aquatube.


	7. Chapter 7

**Hey Simon, thanks for your suggestion. You're right about needing the scene in Bridger's quarters. I don't know how much of my writing you've read but I don't always write in a linear fashion, going from A to B to C. I jump back and forth a bit. Rather than doing a straight dialogue I wanted to incorporate it bit by bit as events unfold. That way the reader doesn't have all the information at once either. Hopefully you'll see why as you read on. I'm always happy to hear suggestions though so thanks for taking the time to comment. I love getting feedback from readers.**

**Chapter Seven**

It had been over three hours since Lucas had left the captain's quarters but Ben was still chewing over their conversation. He had escorted the teenager back to his quarters but Lucas had insisted on being left alone once they arrived there.

"It's not like I need to be tucked into bed!" The tone was joking but the message was clear. Lucas was done talking for the night. It had been difficult getting details out of him but with gentle persistence Bridger had gotten enough. At least for now.

Ben tried getting ready for bed but realised his mind wasn't going to let him stop and rest just yet. The idea that Perez was threatening Lawrence was worrying but something else kept nagging at him. He wasn't certain Lucas had told them everything. Suddenly his PAL beeped and interrupted his musing. He wasn't surprised when he heard Captain Bridger's voice.

"Lieutenant, I know it's late but I need to see you in my quarters."

"On my way, Sir." He pulled a shirt on and stuffed his feet back into his runners, not bothering to find socks. He made the short trip from his quarters to the captain's in record time. The corridors were virtually empty as it was well into the night shift and he ran most of the way. As he lifted a hand to knock, the door swung open. The captain had obviously been waiting for him and heard him coming.

"Lieutenant, come in." Bridger stepped back and motioned Ben into the room before shutting the hatch behind them. He sat down at his desk and waved at the other seat.

"I'm guessing you got some answers, Captain."

Bridger nodded but Ben could tell by his face that he wasn't going to like them.

"I've just gotten off the vidlink with Admiral Noyce. Lieutenant, I … " Bridger paused and looked squarely at Ben. "Understand that this conversation is off the record."

Ben nodded at him. "Yes, Sir." His stomach clenched as he realised the implications of that.

The captain looked as though he was carefully considering his words before speaking again. "I was speaking with the admiral and he's been trying to get access to certain records. He's confirmed that Project 214 was real. It was something to do with a prototype weapons platform but, like I said, this is off the record."

"Well Lucas already told us that his aunt thought it was weapons related so you aren't spilling anything top secret here."

Bridger smiled ruefully at him. "I'm not sure the JAG would see it that way. Anyway Bill confirmed that Lucas' father was working on the project alongside his brother, Matthew and Doctor Nico Perez."

"And the people Lucas said died?"

"Doctor Marta Cohen, Doctor Steven Callan and Doctor Carl McAulley. Officially all three died of massive radiation exposure."

"Not your everyday cause of death."

"It took some digging on Bill's part to even get the names so somebody has gone to a lot of trouble to bury this."

"So could the admiral confirm or deny Doctor Wolenzcak's part in their deaths?"

Bridger shook his head. "According to the official record it was deemed an accident. Nobody was held accountable although the facility was closed down soon after. The contaminated area was sealed and various people were reassigned."

"Including Perez?"

"No. His name isn't on any further records and neither is Matthew Wolenzcak."

"So Lucas was right about his uncle leaving and starting a new life in Paris?"

The captain nodded slowly. "It seems that even if Lawrence wasn't held responsible by the authorities, his brother still saw it that way. And obviously so did Perez. Bill says this guy has been considered mentally unstable for years. He was working doing legitimate research and writing textbooks but in recent years he has been putting out bizarre papers on the 'nex. His scientific credibility has been shot to hell."

"If I thought someone was responsible for the death of someone I loved and they were never brought to account then I guess I'd … I would …" Ben looked up to see Bridger watching him intently. His hands clenched as his mind filled with thoughts about what he would do if someone had left Katie to die in such an awful way. Even if justice caught up with them he'd still want more. He frowned as he struggled to find the words to finish his sentence.

"I know, Lieutenant. And Perez has had twenty years to stew over it."

"So why wait this long to start making threats now?"

"Maybe because Lucas stirred things up again. Made him realise that he could have access to Lawrence. Who knows how his mind works?"

"Captain …um … about Lucas … did his reaction bother you at all?"

"You mean the fact that he didn't seem at all fazed his father was being threatened?" Bridger looked across at Ben. "Yeah, I'd say that bothered me. But a whole lot of things about this bother me."

Ben waited to see if the captain was going to give any more detail to that response but eventually decided he wasn't. "So, what do we do from here?"

"Noyce has notified the authorities with what we've got so far. Which isn't a whole lot when you think about it. They will contact Doctor Wolenczak. In the meantime I need you to keep an eye on Lucas. Let me know if there's anything I need to know about. He may not have reacted yet but I guarantee he will eventually and we need to be ready."

Ben nodded.

"And one more thing … I don't want him leaving the boat. If this Doctor Perez is as unstable as Bill says then I think Lucas was lucky to walk away from his meeting without any trouble. I don't want to give the man another opportunity."

"Yes, Sir."

* * *

Darwin swam towards the bridge, passing silently through the softly lit corridors. The dimmed lights cast a warm glow into the water. He only passed one crewman as he swam but there was no way to get anyone's attention without the help of the vocorder. The bridge was further than the moonpool but he knew at this time there would definitely be someone there.

Lucas tried again to reach his PAL. He had managed to crawl across to the desk and pulled himself up the edge of it. The PAL was sitting just above his head and he reached out for it. As his fingers brushed the edge of it another muscle spasm made him jerk forward. The PAL toppled off the desk and onto the floor. He stretched out his hand for it but it lay tantalisingly out of reach. He gasped as the pain intensified in his stomach and he dropped back to the floor.

"Help me … Darwin … heeelp me," he whispered.

* * *

Lawrence stared at the test results in his hand. The printout showed their hypothesis was correct although the numbers were still slightly off. He frowned as he tried to think through the variables again. Normally it would have been fairly simple to eliminate several possibilities and then focus on the remainder. Today it was proving to be more of a challenge as his mind just wasn't on the job.

He could feel the beginning of a migraine and he tried to relax his tensed jaw. It was always a giveaway that his blood pressure was up when he found himself involuntarily grinding his teeth. He headed into his office and fished around in the top drawer for his medication. His hands were shaking as he rummaged through the pens and other things floating around in there. For weeks now the shakes had been a constant.

He knew he should go back to see his specialist but there wasn't anything she could say that would change anything. The disease was progressing and the symptoms were just becoming more obvious. Despite doctor's orders to relax and rest he knew that just wasn't possible. His whole personality was results driven and he couldn't change that because it was good for his health. The stress over the whole mess with his son had pushed him further than he had realised. As always he had chosen to bury personal problems by drowning himself in work. For the first time it wasn't working.

He sat down at his desk and gulped down a couple of pills with a mouthful of lukewarm coffee. He leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes. Images flashed through his mind and he quickly opened his eyes again. The nightmares were following into the daytime hours.

"Mail call!" The young woman from the front desk breezed into his office and dropped a small package onto his desk. She smiled at him but he was beyond caring about manners or appearances. He rubbed at his temples and closed his eyes again. She frowned slightly before turning and heading out to the next office. At least there she would get a "thankyou".

Lawrence poked at the package with disinterest until he flipped it over. The name of the sender stood out like a neon light. Nico Perez. Even though they hadn't seen each other in twenty years it was a name he would never forget.

He held the package in both hands and turned it over several times. The sense of unease he felt was ridiculous given the security protocols for the lab facility. Anything that was a security hazard would have been pulled up well before it could arrive on his desk. And yet he couldn't shake the feeling.

Slowly he pulled open the packaging and reached inside. A small vial full of liquid slid out into his hand along with a vid disk. He frowned as he turned the vial around in his hand. There was nothing on it to indicate what it was but it had cleared the biohazard checks so he knew it couldn't be anything dangerous.

He slid the vid disk into his console and stared in disbelief at the face that appeared. It had been many years since he last saw Nico but he could never forget the man. He vaguely registered the lab equipment in the background but soon forgot it as the doctor began to speak.

"Hello, Lawrence. I bet you never expected to see me again. Well imagine my surprise when I get a call from a young man in Paris who wants to speak to me about his father. His _father! _A man like you has no right to get to be a father." The words were spat out at him from the screen.

Perez looked away from the camera and seemed to struggle with his thoughts before continuing on. The look on his face was unrestrained fury as he leaned in closer to the lens.

"You thought you could play God. You were weak and afraid and you took away the lives of three innocent people. I have had to live with your choice every day since then. Do you have any idea what it feels like to lose somebody you love because someone else decided they should die?"

He turned and walked away from the camera. As he returned he held up a small vial in his hand. Lawrence glanced down at the vial in his left hand and quickly dropped it on the desk as if it were suddenly hot.

"Well you soon will. You see, Lawrence, you are about to lose your son. As you attend his funeral you will have some small idea of what I went through because of you!"

Lawrence stared in horror at the screen. He knew Lucas had gone to Paris but just how did he end up finding out about Nico? Or where to find him? The project was highly classified. Nobody wanted such a failure to be public knowledge. Especially when so much government money was tied into it.

He slammed his hand on the desk as he knew without a doubt that his son's hacking skills had helped him. He looked up as he realised Nico was still speaking and he had missed it. He backed up the vid a little.

"… of what I went through because of you!" Perez glared at him from the screen. "But before you condemn me as being no better than you … I offer you a choice. The bottle in the package … it holds an antidote. An antidote to the poison I sent your son. You can save him if you want."

Lawrence jumped to his feet. "If I want?! Of course I want to!"

"The choice I mentioned? Well let's see, you were good at choosing to save yourself while condemning others to die. There is only enough antidote in that bottle for one of you. Enough for Lucas … or enough for you."

Lawrence sank back into his chair as the screen turned to static. He found himself unable to breathe as he stared at the vidscreen. His mind refused to register the threat as being real. But Perez said he had _sent_ Lucas the poison. Maybe there was time to intercept it. He stared at the small vial as he reached out to the vidlink. The image of his secretary appeared and he forced out the words, "Stacey, get me Captain Bridger on the _seaQuest_, now!"

"Yes, Doctor." She frowned at the rudeness of the demand. While Lawrence was known as an impatient man she had learned to anticipate his needs to the point where he rarely got short with her. As she waited for the vidlink to connect she could see the doctor waiting for it too. He looked distressed and she wondered what was going on. She didn't have long to think about it though as the image of a young officer appeared before her.

"I have Doctor Wolenzcak on the line for Captain Bridger."

"One moment please, the captain is currently off duty." Tim would normally have asked the reason for the call but since it was so rare for Lucas' father to contact them he didn't bother. Everyone knew that things were not right since Lucas had returned from his trip so he wasn't about to waste time with protocols.

Stacey watched as the UEO symbol filled the screen again. She could see Lawrence on the split screen and he seemed fit to burst with impatience. She had never seen him like this and it was slightly disturbing.

Finally the screen came back up with the image of the bridge officer and Lawrence jumped out of his seat. He cut her off as he barked at the young man. "Where is Bridger?"

Tim frowned as he tried to explain. "The captain is off duty and hasn't answered his PAL yet. Can I take a message for him and get back to you shortly?"

"No! Where is Lucas then?"

"Ahh, Doctor it's after midnight here. Lucas is asleep, Sir."

"I need to talk to them both!"

"Now?"

"Yes now!"

"Let me get them and I'll call you back shortly."

As Tim closed the link he could see the doctor looked furious but he decided it could take a while to wake Lucas and get him on the vidphone. There was no point leaving the doctor hanging on the other end while he did it.

**I was part way through writing this chapter when I heard that Roy Scheider had passed away. It was very strange finishing it. I know he was a brilliant actor who played the tough guy role and the menacing creep really well but he will forever be Captain Bridger as far as I'm concerned. **


	8. Chapter 8

**Sorry for leaving you waiting so long. Too many things to do and definitely not enough hours in the day! Oh well, here's the next chapter for you so I hope you enjoy it.**

**Chapter Eight**

Tim slowly tapped a finger on the console as he waited for Lucas to respond to his PAL. He couldn't call both the captain and Lucas at once so he chose to call the teenager first. That way it at least gave him some time to wake up before he had to speak with his father. As he tried again, Tim wondered why Doctor Wolenczak was so anxious to speak with them.

Suddenly the quiet of the late shift was broken as Darwin surfaced abruptly. He thrashed out of the water, splashing water over the rim and onto the floor.

"Help Lucas!"

Ford was half way towards the tank already, just about to find out why Darwin was making such a mess on his bridge. He rushed forward at the dolphin's words. Even without any inflection in the mechanised voice the sense of urgency was still obvious.

"What?" he demanded.

"Help Lucas! Lucas hurts."

"Where is he Darwin?" The commander knew at this time of night that the teenager should be in his quarters but if he was hurt then it was quite possible he'd left his room and gone somewhere else.

"Sleeping."

Ford frowned at the response. "He's asleep? Then what's the problem?"

Darwin shook his snout as if in frustration. "Lucas hurts! Sleeping hurts!"

The commander spun back towards O'Neill as understanding hit. "Tim, get a medteam to Lucas' quarters. Tell them he's possibly unconscious."

As he heard his comms officer quickly comply with the order he pulled out his own PAL and called the captain. As he was expecting Bridger to be asleep he was surprised at how quickly he responded.

"Captain, Darwin is here saying there is something wrong with Lucas. We've sent a medteam already."

Ben instinctively leaped to his feet as he listened to the commander's message. Bridger was also on his feet and heading for the door before he had even responded. The two men looked at each other and neither wanted to give voice to what they were thinking. Maybe Lucas hadn't safely walked away from his meeting with Perez after all.

* * *

Lawrence paced his office before calling his secretary again. Finally he stopped and jabbed at the intercom. "Stacey! Get me the _seaQuest _again. This can't wait!"

"Yes, Doctor." She tried the connection again and put on her best smile as she expected she might be dismissed again by the officer she had last spoken to. It didn't surprise her that a military vessel might not be available to take her call immediately but given the mood the doctor was in she was prepared to try anything to get him through. Charm usually got her what she needed but she didn't think that UEO officers were particularly susceptible to it.

Finally the vidlink opened up and the same young man she had spoken to earlier appeared on the screen. She smiled at him and quickly started to speak before he could say anything.

"Please, Lieutenant, I know you said you would get back to us but it is extremely important that Doctor Wolenczak speaks with his son immediately."

Tim shifted slightly in his seat, unsure of how to respond. There had been no news since Darwin had abruptly swum off again; presumably back to Lucas' quarters, and he didn't want to alarm Lawrence unnecessarily. Before he needed to think what to say the doctor cut in on his secretary.

"O'Neill, is it? I need to speak to my son, right now!"

"I'm sorry, Sir, but I was trying to wake Lucas and get him to call you back. It's actually very late here and he's off duty. I promise that …"

"Lieutenant, you don't understand! I need to speak with him now and see that he's all right. Somebody has … someone has threatened him and I need to know that it's just a threat … and not real." The fear in his voice matched the look on his face.

As Ford watched, the colour seemed to drain from the man's face. His own stomach lurched as he put the news of a threat against Lucas and Darwin's warning together.

He stepped up to the screen. "What kind of threat has been made? Lucas has been safely aboard the _seaQuest _for days." Somehow that still didn't seem comforting, even as the words came out of his own mouth.

Lawrence ran a hand through his hair and turned back to the vidscreen. His mind was reeling but he couldn't shake the feeling he was being stalled.

* * *

Darwin hovered in the aquatube and watched. Lucas hadn't moved since he had left. He was still sprawled on the floor between his bunk and his desk. Suddenly the door burst open as Bridger ran into the room, followed closely by Ben. The dolphin couldn't hear anything but he could see as the captain crouched down beside Lucas and gently shook him. When he got no response he checked for a pulse and was relieved when his fingers picked up a heartbeat.

Carefully the two men rolled the teenager over onto his back. He groaned and tried to open his eyes as the captain pressed a hand against his cheek.

"Lucas. Can you hear me? C'mon, Kiddo, speak to me."

A shaky hand reached out and tentatively wrapped around his wrist. Lucas' face twisted in pain as he opened his eyes.

"Make it stop." The words were barely a whisper and Bridger had to lean down closer.

"I can't hear you."

"Make … it … stop!" Lucas squeezed the captain's arm. Before he could answer, the medteam arrived and he felt himself being pushed out of the way. He reluctantly let go of Lucas' hand as he moved aside for the medics.

His PAL beeped several times before he was aware it was even going off. As he pulled it out he never took his eyes off the teenager's face. Lucas had closed his eyes again but his face was still contorted in pain as the medic checked him over.

"Looks like we might need to prep for surgery."

As the directions were being relayed back to medbay Ben looked from one doctor's face to the other.

"Why? What's wrong with him?"

"He's got all the signs of acute appendicitis. Just needs a couple of tests to confirm it."

The captain's PAL beeped again and he absently answered it.

"Bridger here."

Ford's voice came back at him. "Captain, we've got Doctor Wolenczak on the vidlink and he says there has been a threat made against Lucas. Is everything all right there, Sir?"

The crew on the bridge seemed to hold their collective breath as they waited for the answer. Lucas' father had stopped pacing and was staring at the commander.

Bridger watched as Lucas was lifted onto a gurney and he rushed to reach out for the boy as he heard him cry out again. Lucas' arm flailed blindly in the air; reaching out for something, anything that would help. The captain grasped hold of his hand and began to walk alongside the gurney as it was wheeled off towards medbay.

"Captain? Is Lucas all right?"

Bridger shook his head. He hadn't really registered the commander's words fully and was more concerned with getting Lucas to medbay where they could administer some pain relief and get him whatever else he needed.

"Uh … no Jonathan. It seems he has appendicitis. We are on our way to medbay right now."

Lawrence wanted to climb through the vidlink as he heard the captain's words. "Tell them to check for poison! It isn't appendicitis. He's been poisoned!"

Ford turned back towards the vidlink. "What?!"

Lawrence clenched his fists in frustration. His breath was coming in heaving bursts as he tried desperately to get them to listen to him. Every minute counted.

"Tell them that Lucas has been poisoned. Perez sent me a package and he told me he poisoned Lucas. Tell them!" he screamed at the screen.

Ford held up his PAL again and relayed the information through to the captain. He also directed for the vidlink relay to be patched through to medbay.

Bridger could see the doors to medbay swing open as the gurney was pushed through and he was relieved to see Kristin already there on the other side. She had a dressing gown draped around her but it was obvious she had bolted from her quarters.

On the vidscreen behind her, the captain could see the anxious face of Lucas' father.

"Check him for poison! It isn't appendicitis. Perez poisoned him. And sent me the antidote."

Kristin pushed her hair out of her face before ordering a full blood work. She gently began to probe at Lucas' abdomen and he cried out in pain each time she touched him. His eyes were beginning to glaze over and his cheeks were flushed.

"Please …" he reached out desperately and tried to push her hand away. "Make it stop," he wheezed out. Bridger grabbed a hold of his hand again and squeezed it for reassurance.

"They will, Lucas, just take it easy."

He looked up at Kristin and began to sort out the myriad of questions running through his mind. "How could Perez have poisoned him? It's been days since he came back. Is there anything that is that slow-acting?"

"With symptoms like this? No," she shook her head.

Ben had followed the group into the room but had hung back to allow them to work. "What about the package Perez sent Lucas?"

All heads looked up as he spoke. Bridger shook his head. "No, the bio-security protocols would have picked up anything hazardous. There wasn't anything in that package but a letter."

Kristin suddenly stiffened. "Where is the letter now?"

"What?"

"Nathan, where is that letter now?" she demanded.

"In Lucas' quarters I guess. Why?"

"Nico Perez is a bio-chemist. He would know that nothing could get through the bio-security if it was hazardous. But what if it wasn't hazardous until Lucas picked it up?"

Ben looked at her in confusion. "We all read that letter and none of _us_ is sick. There's nothing dangerous on that letter."

"Maybe because it wasn't sent to us. Lucas went to see Perez. It would have been very easy to get a DNA sample and then engineer something that was DNA-sensitive. The technology isn't new."

"Just outlawed in the UEO!" Bridger growled. He stared at the teenager's drawn features and the others watched his face contort in anger. "The bastard could have created something that was specific to Lucas and completely innocuous enough to get through the protocols."

Ben stared at him in disbelief. "But why would Perez want to poison Lucas?"

Lawrence's weary voice cut in from the vidscreen, "To get back at me. Captain you need to get me a UEO transport. Perez sent me the antidote but I need you to help me get it to you in time. It would be just his sick idea to give me the antidote but not enough time to get it there."

Ford responded before Bridger had a chance to. He had still been listening to the conversation from the bridge and had already issued orders for Tim to organise a UEO shuttle to be sent to the World Power facility. "We're on it already, Captain. A shuttle is on its way, Doctor."

Bridger nodded in agreement as he leaned closer to Lucas. The boy's breathing seemed more strained and the colour flush across his cheeks was unnatural. "Hold on, Kiddo, help is coming," he whispered. He straightened up and addressed the vidscreen.

"Jonathan, set a course for World Power. What's our ETA?"

Ford glanced over at the helm before answering. "Approximately six hours, Sir, but we should rendezvous with the shuttle in less than four."

Bridger looked back across at Kristin. "Is that enough time?" he asked anxiously.

"I still haven't established this actually is a poison yet. We need that letter for starters to run tests on it and I'll need those blood test results back too."

Lucas groaned as he tried to move on the table and both Kristin and the captain laid restraining hands on his arms and shoulders. "Easy, Lucas."

"Can't you give him something for the pain?" he asked the doctor.

Kristin shook her head. "Until we know what we are dealing with I can't give him anything. If there are drugs in his system then anything I give him could have a counter-reaction and make things worse."

Lucas muttered something under his breath but seemed unaware that anyone was even there. Bridger looked up towards the vidscreen to see his own fear mirrored on the face before him. Lawrence stared back at him but soon enough his eyes were drawn back to his son. He scrubbed a shaky hand over his face and tried to swallow down his fear. His throat seemed totally devoid of any moisture and he had to sit down on the edge of his desk.

* * *

The woman yawned as she walked. It had been a long and boring night shift but as she glanced at her watch she was pleased to see it was nearly over. In about eighteen minutes she could hand over to the next shift and head off for some much needed sleep.

"These extended shifts suck!" she announced to nobody. It was a fact of life on the newer large conference facilities that staff numbers were limited to allow for the maximum number of guests. That meant everybody pulled longer shifts as there were less people to do the work required.

As she rounded the second last corner before the access port something caught her attention. A sheen on the aquatubes. She reached out a hand and was startled to feel it was damp.

She grabbed her comm from her pocket and began punching in the access code for the main control centre. "Control, can you read me?"

"Spencer here," the disembodied voice floated back at her.

Before she could respond she reached out a hand again and laid it against the tube. A tiny crack inched its way up the glass, right before her eyes.

"Spenc …"


	9. Chapter 9

**Thanks for hanging in there with this. I'm nearly done - I promise! I posted this once already but the paragraph breaks all dropped out so I'll try again. Hopefully this time it stays together.**

**Chapter Nine**

The signal was silent but crystal clear. Time to move!

As four officers silently made their way around the perimeter of the house another two stood on either side of the front door. With precision timing one of the two spun in front of the door and raised a boot to kick in the lock. The wood, weakened by many years of snow and ice piling up in front of it, splintered and separated from the lock mechanism. Another swift kick and the broken door swung open.

Without a word the two men advanced cautiously into the entry of the dilapidated looking home. Weapons raised, ready to shoot. A small hall table and a coat rack were the only items in the entryway and they carefully advanced past them. There was no sign of life in the house until they heard the noise of another breaking door. The second team had come through the back entry and was working its way towards them.

As the first team began to advance upstairs to the bedrooms the second team continued to scout the ground floor.

They headed through the kitchen, glancing around and taking in multiple details even as they moved on. It was second nature to observe everything and mentally sort what was immediately useful while storing away the rest for later analysis. The kitchen seemed bare with only the most basic of items on display. Nothing decorative, just functional items that seemed to have seen better days.

As the first of the two stepped through the kitchen door into the outer dining room he was stunned to see a man slumped over with his head on the table.

"We better not be too late!" he growled. He rushed forward and grabbed the man by the shoulders; half expecting to find his body was stiffened by death. Instead their target sat up and rubbed at eyes that were still waking up.

Perez looked up into the face of the soldier in front of him and pushed the rifle muzzle aside.

"The UEO wouldn't have sent you all this way just to shoot me now, would they?" The smile behind the question was unnerving.

* * *

Doctor Levin leaned on the bench as he viewed the on-screen results. He chewed his bottom lip as he scanned the information; a constant frown on his face.

Lieutenant Roche looked up over her shoulder and waited for a response. She knew what she was looking at but wanted the doctor's opinion before saying anything.

He stood up off the bench and shook his head. "That makes no sense!"

"So it's not just me misreading it?" Roche would have smiled with relief if it wasn't so serious.

Levin leaned in again and flipped the screen back a page. "Nope."

He straightened up again and asked for the results to be relayed through to the medbay. He headed towards the door but hesitated before going through. "Keep running the tests and keep me informed," he called over his shoulder as he made his way off towards medbay.

Roche nodded and turned back towards her test results. She knew her job as a medtech on such a large vessel had exposed her to many things outside the normal job range but she had still never seen anything quite like this. The computer-generated image of microscopic blood cells spread across the screen showed a toxin that defied description. The only reason she could actually define it as a toxin was because of its clear effects on their patient.

She knew that unless they could break down the chemical components there was no way to produce a viable antidote. Since none of them knew what the toxin actually was, nobody knew what kind of timeframe they were working with. There were no guarantees that Doctor Wolenczak would arrive in time and they weren't going to sit idly by and wait for him.

Roche pushed another slide into the clip, flipped aside her fringe and leaned down to look into the microscope again.

"What are you?" she muttered to herself as she scanned the cells, looking for some clue that would help them.

* * *

_You were good at choosing to save yourself while condemning others to die._

The words coursed through his thoughts over and over. A never-ending accusation that refused to be silent. As much as he wished to drown it out, the words just would not stop.

He started in his seat as he realised he had completely zoned out. The gentle humming of the shuttle's engine broke through his senses and he glanced over to see the pilot was on the radio again. It seemed only minutes since they had left World Power but Lawrence could feel his leg muscles were tense and that meant he had been sitting in one position for quite some time.

He stood up to stretch and began to walk back and forth across the back of the shuttle. In the cramped space it was only several paces before he had to turn and walk back again but it was better than sitting and letting his thoughts run wild.

_You are about to lose your son._

Lawrence felt his stomach lurch at the memory and he stumbled back towards his seat. He dropped his face into his hands and felt the tremors running through his fingers. At that moment Lawrence wished he possessed even an ounce of faith; to be able to ask God for help. Any god would do really. But he was a man who had placed greater faith in science and what human beings could do. The trouble was his son was dying because of science and what human beings could do. Scientific research that pushed the ethical boundaries and cost lives. _His_ research. _His_ failure. _His _responsibility.

As much as he wanted to rip Nico Perez to shreds for what he had done, in the back of his mind Lawrence knew that he was ultimately responsible. Even though he had gone through a period of personal recrimination over the accident all those years ago he had finally managed to rationalise it away as an accident and nothing more. Now as the images replayed endlessly in his head he knew that while he had lost colleagues, Perez had lost the woman he had planned to marry.

_You are about to lose your son._

Lawrence felt his chest constrict. Nico had told him he would be attending his son's funeral … unless he chose to take him the antidote.

Lawrence reached into his bag and pulled out the package from Perez. He stared at the small vial of liquid in his hand.

_There is only enough antidote in that bottle for one of you. Enough for Lucas … or enough for you._

What kind of choice was that?

Events seemed to have taken on a life of their own as he had been caught up in the rush to get to the _seaQuest. _It suddenly occurred to him that he was placing all his faith in a bottle of something that hadn't even been tested yet. His breath caught in his throat. Would Perez really send him an antidote or was he just playing with them? Could all of this still be useless if the bottle contained nothing more than water?

"Could he be that cruel?" The words were no more than a whisper but the question still hung in the air; unanswered.

Lawrence pushed the frightening questions aside but more thoughts just crowded in to fill the void.

_A man like you has no right to get to be a father._

"You're right," he muttered to himself.

Perez never got to be a father just as he never got to be a husband. Lawrence had seen to that. But what kind of twisted grief would take away his son in retribution? He glanced down at his watch and saw that they had only been in the water for forty five minutes.

He looked up towards the pilot and called out, "Can't we go any faster?"

"We are at top speed already, Doctor. _seaQuest _is on it's way to us."

Lawrence stood up and began pacing again; trying desperately to stop his thoughts from ticking over.

_You can save him if you want._

Lawrence glanced down at the vial again. He forced himself to slowly put it back in his bag. It wouldn't help if he squeezed it and broke it. He flexed his fingers again as if he could relieve the tension but they still trembled.

_You can save him if you want._

"Shut up!" He squeezed his eyes shut and frantically rubbed his temples with his fingers.

"Sir?"

Lawrence ignored the pilot's query as he tried again to shut out the ugly voice in his head.

The two UEO crewmen exchanged glances but let the matter drop. They knew they were on a time sensitive mission but had no further details other than the need to reach the _seaQuest_ as quickly as possible. The fact that their passenger was clearly agitated wouldn't make them get there any quicker.

* * *

Bridger stared at the UEO symbol on the vidscreen. He forced himself to walk back through from Kristin's office into the medbay, dreading how he was going to explain what he had to do.

Levin glanced up and started to come towards him. "Captain, we've got the preliminary bloodwork back and we've just completed a CT scan. The good news is that it's not appendicitis."

"So he _has_ been poisoned?"

"We don't know that yet for certain."

As the two of them moved back to where Kristin was checking readings Bridger noticed that Lucas seemed to have calmed down somewhat.

"The pain seems to be decreasing," he commented hopefully.

Kristin glanced over the top of her glasses and shook her head slowly. "No. He's just getting weaker."

The captain took hold of Lucas' hand and squeezed it but got nothing back in response. He licked his lips before speaking. "Kristin, I need you to get whatever you need together to get Lucas ready to move."

"What!" He suddenly had her full attention. "Nathan, he's in no condition to be moved anywhere!"

"That call that just came through from Noyce. We've been ordered to get to the Longman Convention Facility as soon as possible. We've already altered course but I'm putting you and Lucas and whoever else you need on a shuttle to rendezvous with Lawrence."

Kristin visibly bristled as she stared at him. "Well didn't you tell the admiral we are already on an emergency mission?"

"Of course I did! But Longman has put out a mayday call. It seems there is a problem with their aquatubes and there are over 370 people there. Kristin, you know I wouldn't be doing this if I had any other choice but we have to help. We can't allow a repeat of what happened at Banden Station. There are lot more lives at stake this time."

Kristin opened her mouth as if to continue her objection but he cut her off. "We are the closest vessel. Whatever you need, get these guys onto it."

She turned back towards Levin and began issuing instructions. Bridger watched as she quickly and efficiently listed the equipment and personnel she wanted taken to the shuttle bay.

He felt sick at the thought of what he was about to do but military directives always took precedent over personal wishes. He tried to rationalise it by mentally acknowledging the large number of people at risk but somehow he kept coming back to just one life. The one that mattered most. The one that he would give anything to protect and yet here he was handing that job over to others.

He was surprised to feel a gentle pressure on his hand. As he looked down he could see Lucas trying to speak. His eyes were straining to stay open and the captain leaned down so he could hear the words.

"Don't … leave."

He laid his hand gently against Lucas' face and was surprised to feel how clammy the skin was underneath his fingers.

He frowned as he wondered how Lucas knew what was going on. But then he'd heard Kristin tell him before that patients could often hear things even when they didn't seem to be conscious.

"Ben will be with you. And Kristin."

Lucas weakly squeezed his hand again. "Don't …" He closed his eyes before he could finish the sentence.

Bridger stood up again but kept hold of the teenager's hand.

_"I don't want to!"_

* * *

The laugh was cold and totally devoid of humour. The two guards on the far side of the room exchanged glances. The brass had said they were dealing with a nutcase but none of them were expecting this.

"You are facing a lifetime behind bars unless you co-operate here. If it were up to me you'd be looking at the electric chair."

Perez dropped the smirk from his face as quickly as it had appeared. He seemed to flit from calm and sane to eerily detached and back again, all in the space of minutes.

"What can you possibly do to me that hasn't already been done? I lost my fiancé, my career and my credibility, all because of one man. You think the threat of prison or death is gonna scare me?" He leaned forward and whispered menacingly, "I've been imprisoned for twenty years, with no possibility of parole. All the while the real monster has been free to marry, have a child, pursue a career … have a life! Tell me, where's the justice in that!

His interrogator decided that he needed to step things up a notch as they were running out of time. Admiral Noyce had made it crystal clear he wanted results on this one.

"So you think it's justified that you take the life of an innocent person? Somebody like Marta, who had no control over what happened to her?"

Perez blinked rapidly at the mention of Marta. His heart rate picked up and he felt himself clench his hands around the chair's armrests.

"What would you know about what happened to her?" he spat out angrily.

_Let us out! Please! Let us out!_

He flinched as he saw her face against the glass. She was crying and there was nothing he could do to comfort her.

_I love you._

"I love you too," he whispered.

The three men in the room watched at their suspect seemed to float off into another reality right before their eyes. This was going nowhere.

Perez could feel himself struggling with Lawrence to open the lab doors.

_It's too late! We can't open that door or we'll all die!_

He felt Lawrence pull at his arm as he desperately pulled at the door release. Perez made one last-ditch attempt to free Marta and the others as he swung a punch at the back of Lawrence's head.

The two guards sprang into action as Perez let swing at their captain. They each grabbed an arm and pulled him back.

"Let them out! You bastard! Open the door! Let them out!"

He thrashed against the two men holding him, totally oblivious that he was still in the kitchen of his own home. In his mind's eye he was back at Project 214, caught in the moment of watching his beloved Marta die in agony.


	10. Chapter 10

**Some chapters seem to flow effortlessly and others have to be forcibly removed from my imagination. This one just didn't seem to want to come together because everything seemed either too cheesy or not detailed enough. **

**Sending the family off to the footy while I had a 500 decibel **_**Linkin Park**_** fix and a huge bowl of ice-cream with chocolate Ice-Magic seemed to finally do the trick. My cat has gone into hiding but I'm sure he'll come back when he's hungry. Given that he's a teenage boy that will probably be in the next ten minutes or so.**

**Chapter Ten**

Bridger stood and watched the image on the viewscreen. His heart pounded in his chest but his face gave no indication that anything was wrong. If he held onto the railing before him a little more tightly than usual nobody seemed to notice. Nothing would be noted in the ship's logs and nobody would question his professionalism but he alone knew just how close he had come to defying Noyce's order. Sending the shuttle on its way had been one of the hardest things he had ever had to do. If the delay in getting Lucas to his father and the antidote meant that … he gripped the railing harder and refused to allow the thought to continue. If he did he feared he might order the helmsman to turn them around and chase after the shuttle.

As Miguel tried to look, without appearing to be looking, he frowned slightly at the captain's face. He turned back to his WSKR display and busied himself with watching the readout.

Captain Bridger had never been the textbook idea of a UEO captain and his senior crew suspected he had earned more than one rebuke from superiors over his personal attachment to his subordinates. It had never made any difference before to how Bridger chose to function in his role but what worried Miguel now was the completely unemotional mask that covered his captain's face. Being able to stare down an enemy without flinching was one thing but this was something entirely different.

On the screen the shuttle could be seen pulling away from the _seaQuest_ and Miguel glanced up again as it powered up and headed away. He looked over towards O'Neill and as they made eye contact he smiled briefly. Tim just nodded back at him. No words passed between the two friends but a silent sense of encouragement flowed back and forth anyway.

Miguel was shaken out of his reverie as he heard the captain speaking.

"Commander, what's our ETA at Longman?"

Ford stepped up beside his captain. "Just under an hour, Sir."

"Any further updates from the facility?"

"They've managed to seal off the lower levels and evacuate all personnel and guests out of the affected areas. It seems they got onto it fairly quickly, as soon as they knew there was a problem with the aquatubes."

Bridger nodded. "Knowing that nineteen other underwater facilities have suffered aquatube failure would encourage anybody to act quickly." He sighed as he mentally recounted how many people had already died. Not to mention the number of businesses and research facilities that were now either damaged or beyond repair.

* * *

The admiral rubbed a hand through his thinning hair as he listened to the report. "So basically we have made no progress?"

The agent on the other end of the vidscreen nodded at him. "Yes, Sir. I'm afraid that Perez needs a psych, not an interrogator. I've had people turn on an act before but this guy deserves an Academy Award if he's faking it."

Noyce stood up and walked around the desk towards the screen. "OK. Tell me what you have so far."

"Nothing we didn't already know. He clearly blames Wolenczak for all he's lost. I don't think he had any problem with the idea of revenge. He feels quite justified in what he's done."

"So he's not going to give us any clues on the toxin or antidote?" Noyce glanced back up at the screen. Something kept niggling at his thoughts but he couldn't quite decide what it was.

"No, Sir. He feels that the doctor had no right to take an innocent person's life and this is just an eye for an eye."

The admiral suddenly realised what was bugging him. "That's it! That's the angle you need to keep working!"

"Sir?"

"The whole idea of an innocent life. Perez has always claimed Doctor Wolenczak took an innocent life but he is doing exactly the same thing. You need to keep working at that and maybe you might find the chink in his armour. Keep reminding him that an innocent sixteen year old is paying the price here for something that happened before he was born."

"I have been, Sir but he doesn't seem to care. The doctor said he had also been poisoned. Perez went after them both."

"And gave Lawrence the choice of saving his son or himself. In his mind Perez believes Lawrence will save himself just like when the accident at 214 occurred. You have to keep reminding Perez that Lucas is just as innocent in all this as Marta was back then. Work on his sense of justice. You have to convince him to help Lucas, by telling him that Lawrence already took the antidote. Play into his beliefs. Either way we need that antidote for one of them and we have no way to know how long we have left. The _seaQuest _medical staff are working on the blood work they have but aren't having any success so far. We need answers from Perez and we know he won't give us help for Lawrence but we have to keep reminding him of Lucas."

"Yes Sir."

Noyce watched as the UEO symbol filled the large screen and he let out a long sigh. He debated calling the _seaQuest _again but realised he really didn't feel like facing Nathan Bridger until he had some better news. At least holding out some hope rather than the current stalemate. He had hoped that sending a special-ops team after Perez would yield better results but interrogation apparently didn't seem to work so well on the criminally insane.

* * *

Agent Morton paced back and forth across the small kitchen. The man seated in front of him seemed to shrink back into himself. The earlier display of aggression seemed to have dried up and all that was left was the shell of a man. Wary eyes darted around the room but other than that there was no sign of emotion.

"I've just been on the vidlink with Admiral Noyce. It seems you were right about Wolenczak. He took the antidote for himself." Morton leaned on the doorframe in an apparent posture of defeat.

The eyes followed his movement but there was still no response.

He turned back to Perez and leaned down into his face. "What kind of man allows his own son to die?" He straightened up and turned away again, waiting to see if he could provoke an answer.

Nothing.

"Doctor we need your help. A young man is dying from the poison you sent him and we have no antidote for him."

Nothing.

This wasn't going according to any kind of script that any of the team had come across before. Usually interrogations went in fairly standard and predictable patterns once they found the subject's weak point but this was just bizarre. Threats were totally useless against someone who felt they had nothing to lose. Any sort of moral compass seemed to have gone adrift so appealing to a sense of right and wrong wasn't making any difference. Inflicting pain was the last resort the admiral had authorised. As the agent turned back to Perez he was stunned to see the man grinning at him.

* * *

"We've been in lock-down Captain since one of our maintenance people discovered the first micro-fractures."

Bridger nodded at the man on the screen. "How have you managed to keep people from leaving? And panicking?"

"We told them it was a possible bio-security issue that wasn't life-threatening but needed to be contained and we are doing a thorough sweep of the facility before anyone is cleared to leave."

"Any objections?"

"Several from a group of businessmen who claimed we were going to bankrupt them if they couldn't leave! Another from a man who told us his life wouldn't be worth living if his wife found out he was here. Something to do with a certain redhead."

Bridger smiled slightly but suddenly turned serious again. "Has there been any further flooding?"

"Nothing more than what we first reported. We've been on alert for weeks now and the aquatubes have been inspected on an hourly basis. At first we didn't know if it was a design flaw but once it became clear the accidents were the work of saboteurs then we went on high alert. Security has been tripled around here and the first micro-fractures were reported within minutes of appearing. The person who found them managed to clear the maintenance tunnel before it collapsed and she sealed the area before any further damage could be done. We evacuated all the lower levels and began sending in maintenance crews."

"Have you found any sign of how the damage was done?"

"Well, actually we found something strange on several levels. There is a residue of an unknown substance on different areas of various tubes. We've taken samples and cleaned it off but it was also found around the area where the first tube failed."

"Do you have any ideas on what it is?"

"No, Captain. We were hoping you could help us identify it."

"Well we will be there in less than fifteen minutes so I'll assign a team to it as soon as we arrive. In the meantime I want you to send us your staff and guest list so we can start running background checks. You got your facility into lockdown so quickly that there's a good chance whoever did this may still be there. We'll also need names of anybody who has left there in the last week."

"I'll have someone get onto it immediately."

* * *

It was eerily quiet in the shuttle as the only sound came from the unsteady beep of a monitor. Ben cast an eye over the instrument panel before turning in his seat. Again.

Crocker nodded towards the back of the shuttle. "Go. I think I still remember how to pilot one of these things."

Ben smiled ruefully at him as he climbed out of his seat. "Thanks, Chief."

Kristin glanced up as he approached but there was nothing encouraging in her face.

"How's he doing?"

"No change. He hasn't woken since we left the _seaQuest_."

Ben reached out a hand and pushed a stray hair off Lucas' face. "Well I promised the Captain I'd bring you back so you can't make a liar out of me."

* * *

Lawrence tentatively rubbed a hand along his jawline. The earlier tingling in his face had now turned to numbness. He prodded at the side of his face but his skin felt as though he had just come from the dentist. He pushed at the inside of his cheek with his tongue but it too felt as though he had been given a shot of anaesthetic.

He rubbed his hand further up his face and began circling his temple. The headache had come out of nowhere and he rubbed at his eyes as specks of light danced across the floor in front of him. He tried to call out to one of the crew in the front of the shuttle but for some reason his mouth just wouldn't form the words. As he looked up he was frightened to see the space directly in front of him seemed to disappear into a dark blob. His peripheral vision still seemed to work but the image directly ahead was blanked out.

He vaguely heard a noise beside him but never saw the officer heading towards him as he pitched forward onto the floor.

* * *

Morton stared at Perez as the man began to laugh.

"_He needs a psych all right!"_

"I knew it! I knew he'd look after himself first!" Perez stopped laughing for a moment but quickly began again. There was no humour in it though and Morton found it slightly unsettling. He stepped up closer to Perez and waited for the laughter to subside.

"So what about Lucas? They don't have any antidote for him. Are you going to just let him die?"

Perez stared back at him, pursing his lips as though he was thinking it over.

"He isn't going to die. But Lawrence is!"

"What?"

"Lawrence could always be counted on to do whatever was best for Lawrence. Only this time his selfishness will be his undoing."

Morton glanced at the two agents across the room and could see that it wasn't making any sense to them either.

Perez started to laugh again. "I knew Lawrence better than anyone. He fooled many people over the years that he was a changed man but I knew. I knew! By choosing to save himself over his son he sealed his own fate. That vial didn't contain any kind of antidote."

Morton stared back at him as he finally began to understand what was unfolding. "It contained the poison didn't it?"

"Well industrial strength cleaner actually, but it doesn't react well with human body chemistry." The look that spread across Perez' face was chilling.

"So why claim you had sent an antidote to save Lucas when you were really planning to kill him?"

"Either way, Lawrence pays. If he gave the antidote to his son he would be responsible for his death. Imagine living with that for the rest of your life. But even better, he did what I thought he would and took it himself. Selfish to the end. So now he can die an agonising death … just like Marta." His voice trailed away as his eyes seemed to lose focus.

Morton grabbed the nearest agent and whispered an urgent directive to get the new information back to Admiral Noyce. They had to stop anybody administering the "antidote".

* * *

"Captain, we've got an incoming call from the shuttle carrying Doctor Wolenczak."

"Put it through, Mr O'Neill."

"Captain, this is Lieutenant Markham." Bridger scanned the face on the screen. The young man had a military bearing about him but there was something in his eyes.

"I'm afraid I have some bad news, Sir."

"What's wrong, Lieutenant?"

"Captain … Doctor Wolenczak is dead. We tried CPR but there was nothing we could do. I'm sorry, Sir."

Bridger drew in a sharp breath and leaned forward on the railing in front of him. "Do you still have the antidote with you?"

"Yes, Sir."

"Then you still need to rendezvous with our shuttle as planned. Maybe there's still time for Lucas. We'll notify our people of what's happened.

"Aye, Sir. We are less than thirty minutes out."

"Understood, Lieutenant. _seaQuest _out."

Ford watched as the captain seemed to sag against the railing before pulling himself back up. He struggled to find something helpful to say. If Lawrence was poisoned after Lucas then there was clearly very little time left. He didn't know if half an hour would push the limit.

"Captain, Lucas is young and healthy. They _will_ get there in time."

"Thankyou, Jonathan. Contact the shuttle and put it through to the Wardroom."

He turned and walked off the bridge before anybody could say anything else.

**OMG – I killed Lawrence! I wasn't sure if I was going to right up until I wrote it!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Thanks to everyone who has taken the time to review. It's always helpful to hear your feedback and ideas. **

**It's funny how none of you were concerned that I killed Lawrence but I've gotta say it wasn't easy to kill him off. I've never killed a main character in a story before but he just had to go.**

**Chapter Eleven**

As the door slid closed behind him the captain grabbed for the nearest chair and almost fell into it. On the bridge he had needed to maintain his composure but in the privacy of the empty room he felt the bravado giving way to despair. He leaned his elbows on the desk and dropped his face into his hands.

It seemed only a few minutes before the large vidscreen came to life and before he was ready for it the captain found himself face to face with Chief Crocker. He stood and slowly walked around towards the screen.

"Cap'n? What's wrong?" The two men had been friends for so long that Crocker knew that something was very wrong, just by observing his captain's slumped shoulders.

"How's Lucas?"

Crocker swung around in his seat and then turned back to the screen. He shrugged slightly before answering, "Hanging in there."

When the captain didn't answer immediately, he tried again. "Cap'n, what's wrong?"

From the rear of the shuttle both Ben and Kristin could hear Crocker's question but couldn't see the screen to see what was bothering him. Ben glanced across at Lucas before standing up and heading for the front of the shuttle. One look at the captain's face on the screen and he found himself agreeing that something was definitely wrong. He felt his stomach clench as he leaned over the back of the seat.

Bridger barely nodded at him before rubbing a hand over his face.

"Sir?"

"Doctor Wolenczak is dead. We just got word from the other shuttle."

Ben gripped the back of the seat as he stared at the screen in disbelief.

"But he … I mean …"

"I've directed the other shuttle to rendezvous with you as quickly as possible." Bridger glanced down at his watch before continuing. "They should be there in less than fifteen minutes."

"We've got them on scanners, Sir. ETA is eleven minutes."

"All right. Is Kristin available?"

Ben turned to see that the doctor was already making her way towards the front of the shuttle. He stepped aside for her and decided to go back and check on Lucas for himself. Not that it seemed to be making any difference.

* * *

"Get me through to the _seaQuest's _shuttle!"

The young lieutenant almost jumped out of his seat as the admiral's angry voice ripped out at him from the speaker.

"Yes, Sir."

In the minutes it took to establish the connection he could imagine the admiral pacing the carpet in his office. Generally Admiral Noyce was an easy-going man to work for but something had changed in the last few days.

* * *

Miguel watched as the captain walked back onto the bridge with the stony face set back in place. For a moment his stomach clenched into a knot as he wondered if they were too late. Since receiving the shocking news about Lucas' father there had been a buzz of whispered concern across the bridge. Commander Ford appeared to be ignoring the talk but Miguel knew better than that since the XO rarely missed anything.

Bridger barely glanced at any of the crew as he moved over towards the helm. He said nothing about the transmission from the shuttle so they were each left to wonder what was happening. Ford hoped that the old adage, "no news is good news" would hold true.

"We will be docking at Longman in a few moments, Sir."

Ford knew that Bridger could see that for himself on the viewscreen but he felt the need to say something, hell, _anything _to get the captain to respond. He was rewarded with a barely noticeable nod but it was enough. For now they had something to focus on until they received another update from the shuttle.

The helmsman began powering down the engines to bring the massive vessel alongside the centre's docking port.

"Commander, I want an engineering team over there as soon as possible to get to the bottom of what's happening. In the meantime they have sent us through the personnel and guest files. I want Luc … I want someone onto cross-checking with the files from all other affected sites."

The captain continued on as though nothing was amiss but Ford had seen the faintest flicker of pain cross his face as he unintentionally asked for his Chief Computer Analyst to complete the task. It had become so routine to have Lucas around that most of the time when it came to anything involving software, he was the first port of call.

"Yes, Sir. Hitchcock has a team ready to go on your orders and O'Neill is already running the cross-checks since the Security Chief at Longman sent over the files."

Bridger glanced over to where the lieutenant was already poring over the screen in front of him. He frowned slightly as he watched. O'Neill was a highly competent officer and the captain knew he would get the job done. It was just that … well … Lucas would have … He sighed slightly as he tried to shake the thought that was settling over him. He seemed to be thinking in past tense.

Bridger looked up as he realised the vessel had stopped. "Get Hitchcock over there and get us some answers. This ends, _here_!" His voice dropped to almost a low growl with the last word. Ford nodded and called through to Katie on his PAL, knowing that she was already at the docking bay and raring to go.

* * *

Noyce stopped his pacing as he heard the lieutenant finally put him through to the shuttle. A face filled the screen before him and it took him only a moment to recognise Crocker. He recalled how Nathan had insisted the chief stay on when he agreed to captain the _seaQuest. _It was no surprise that he had been entrusted with the job of getting Lucas to where he needed to be.

"Chief Crocker, please tell me you haven't met with the shuttle yet!"

"No, Sir, but they're only a few minutes away."

"Oh thank God!"

Crocker frowned with confusion at the admiral's words. Ben climbed back into his seat and echoed his thoughts.

"Admiral? Something we should know?"

Noyce glanced at the lieutenant on the screen as he tried to think of his name. The serious lack of sleep in the last few days was playing havoc with his memory. _Craig? No, something similar. Krieg!_

"Lieutenant Krieg, whatever you do, _don't_ give Lucas that antidote!"

Ben exchanged confused looks with Crocker before turning back to the screen. "Sir?"

"It's _not_ an antidote. It was Perez' sick way of getting revenge on Doctor Wolenczak. It's a long story which I will explain later but that vial contains industrial strength cleaner. It will _kill_ him!"

Kristin stood up and hurried towards the front of the shuttle. She had been listening to the exchange and her mind was racing. "He could get cleaner through the bio-hazard filters since it's not hazardous … unless it was injected, in which case it would be lethal!"

"Exactly." The admiral frowned as he watched their faces. "I'm sorry, Kristin to have raised everybody's hopes but we don't have an antidote. Yet."

"Bill, when we left the _seaQuest _medical staff were working on the bloodwork but this toxin is beyond anything we've seen. We thought we had the answer coming to us and now … oh God Bill … now we have nothing!"

Even across the vidlink he could feel her fear. It wasn't often that Kristin Westphalen wore a look of defeat but right now, her face scared him.

"Ben, we need to get back to the _seaQuest. _The only chance we have is getting back there and hoping Levin has come up with something from the toxin itself."

On the screen the admiral nodded at her. "We'll keep working from our end. We have Perez in custody and hopefully we can get him to hand over the information we need. In the meantime I'll redirect the other shuttle to the nearest UEO facility and see if there's anything their medical staff can come up with from the doctor's bloodwork."

Kristin nodded at him as the screen went blank. Ben had already turned the shuttle around and was setting a heading back towards the _seaQuest. _

She laid a hand on his shoulder. "How long to get us back?"

He hesitated before answering, "A couple of hours."

Kristen turned and headed back to her patient without saying a word. The time factor meant nothing if there were no answers when they arrived. "Ben, please contact the _seaQuest _and see if Joshua has come up with anything yet."

"I'm already onto it."

She leaned down beside Lucas and watched the readout on the monitor. Both his pulse and respiration were off but for the moment she was just grateful for the fact he was still breathing.

* * *

Katie leaned back in the control chair and wove her hands delicately in the air in some kind of strange dance. Outside the hull an odd-looking metallic creature responded to her hand strokes as it crawled through the remains of an aquatube. What had been an access tunnel only the day before was now flooded with icy seawater. The HRP seemed as if it were cleaning the glass as its "hand" took samples all the way along the area that had disintegrated.

* * *

"Captain, I think I have something here you need to see!"

Bridger rose from his desk and began heading out of his quarters before even bothering to answer the call on his PAL.

"I'm on my way."

As he strode into the Wardroom it didn't surprise him to see that Ford had already beaten him there. "What have you got Mr O'Neill?"

"Well, Sir, we were already running tracers on the personnel and guest files from all facilities that have experienced aqua tube problems and … well so far nothing has come up."

"Buuut …" Ford tried to keep the impatience out of his voice but couldn't avoid it.

"Um, right here," Tim pointed to a crew manifest, "and here." He glanced up at the two officers standing beside him before hurrying on. "These two names are sending up red flags because they are false ID's. We've been running facial recognition software and I've finally got one of them. This guy on the left." Tim pointed to the image of a young man with longish brown hair and a nondescript face. Nothing would have stood out about him except the screen was flashing a UEO warning.

"Chris Redeck. Who's he?" asked Ford.

"Well actually that's an alias. His real name is unknown but he's wanted by the UEO on suspicion of eco-terrorism. He's connected with a cell of environmental warriors who feel that anything is justified in protecting the planet."

"Warriors?" The sceptical look on Ford's face matched the thought in Bridger's mind but nothing about the face on the screen suggested he was a joke.

O'Neill continued on. "Yes, Sir. According to their mandate the planet is under attack from humanity and they are at war with those who would damage it. One of their more vocal arguments has been that underwater facilities of any kind damage the eco-systems and should be removed. They argue that people aren't designed to live under water and we should stick to dry land."

Bridger stared at the screen as he responded. "So sabotaging aquatubes and flooding all underwater facilities would certainly encourage people to stay on dry land."

"Yes, Sir."

"Any news from Hitchcock yet on what's going on down there?"

"They've brought up some evidence from the tubes and have sent it off for analysis but so far I don't think they have anything to report."

Bridger nodded at Ford before turning back to O'Neill. "OK, Lieutenant. Is this guy still on the station?"

"Yes, Sir. They've been in lockdown and nobody has left."

"All right, get his details over to the security staff there and get them to track him down. He's our only link so far."

The captain turned and started towards the door. "Keep me informed. I'll be in medbay checking on how Levin and his team are going."


	12. Chapter 12

**I'm so sorry for the long delay in finishing this last chapter. I'm not even going to try to explain what happened cos it seems like I've moved over into Days of Our Lives territory! Anyhow to those of you who have bothered to finish reading this, thank you for hanging around.**

**My medical knowledge is limited to internet research so if the following scenario sounds ridiculous then just go with it anyway. This is **_**fiction **_**after all! Just be thankful I'm not your doctor.**

**Chapter Twelve**

As Bridger came through the door to the lab he saw Levin lean back in his seat and rub a tired hand through his hair. He saw nothing to give him any hope but he had to ask anyway. The doctor glanced up as he entered.

"Anything new?"

Levin shook his head as he stood up to stretch. "Sorry, Captain but this is one nasty little toxin. I've gotta give it to him, Perez really knows his stuff."

Bridger leaned on the bench and waved a hand across the paperwork scattered there. Scribbled notes showed hours of unrelenting searching and theorizing but it seemed there was nothing to show for it.

"Is there anything here we can use? I mean maybe we can't get an exact antidote but _something_ has got to be better than nothing?" Levin could hear the hint of desperation in the captain's voice and he wished he could do something to alleviate it.

"So far everything we've tried has proven useless. Even worse, some of the things we tried have actually caused more cellular damage."

"Damage? How?"

"Well actually we aren't entirely sure _what_ it is, so we are working on the assumption it's a toxin with the usual expectations that go with that." Levin glanced over at Roche and saw his own fatigue echoed on her face. "The truth is that this thing just defies description and doesn't respond as expected. I mean it acts like a toxin but nothing is working so far. I just wish we could get a sample of Perez's antidote to work from. Maybe there'd be enough time to synthesize some more for Doctor Wolenczak."

Bridger shook his head in frustration. "That's why I came down to see you. We just got word that Lawrence is dead." As Levin looked at him with confusion the captain continued on. "Lucas is on his way back to us. It seems Perez lied about the antidote. There never was one."

He held up a hand to halt the inevitable questions and hurried on. "It's a long story but he was testing Lawrence to see if he'd save himself or save Lucas. Bottom line Joshua … it's up to you to find an answer. Fast!"

Levin sagged back into his chair and sighed loudly. "Our only other possible idea we've been thinking about is since the toxin was DNA-specific maybe we can override it somehow. Find a way to use Lucas' DNA to fight it."

Before Bridger could answer, his PAL began to beep.

"Bridger here."

"Captain, we've just got word from Longman's Security Chief that they've detained Redeck. They are still looking for the other one O'Neill identified but they assured me he hasn't yet left the station."

Bridger nodded and began to move towards the door. "I'm on my way, Commander. Prep me a shuttle. I want to hear what he has to say for myself!"

"It's waiting in shuttle bay 6, Sir." He had already anticipated the captain would want to be in on the questioning of the man suspected of causing so much death.

As Bridger turned to walk out the door he paused to look back at the exhausted medical team. He knew they had all been working long hours and he silently wondered if any of them had actually had any sleep.

"Keep me posted."

* * *

"So what now?"

Morton looked back at the man sitting at the table and shook his head. "How do we reason with someone who's beyond reason?"

Perez stared at the wall directly across from him. The agents had so far witnessed him change from manic to stone cold in the space of minutes and now he seemed to be oblivious to their presence. Morton walked over to the table and leaned down in front of Perez.

"What did you mean before when you said that Lucas wasn't going to die?"

Perez didn't respond so Morton waved a hand across in front of his face. "I said, what did you mean that Lucas wasn't going to die?"

Time was running out and Morton was losing patience with the game. He reached out and grabbed Perez by the collar. "Listen to me, you sick sonofabitch!" The eyes he looked down into seemed devoid of life. "There's a kid who is dying because of you! What do you think your precious Marta would have to say about that?"

The mention of Marta seemed to snap Perez back to the present and he glanced around the room. Confusion crossed his face as he took in the agents staring back at him. He reached up a hand to pry Morton's grip loose but the agent just squeezed tighter.

"Do you think she'd be impressed that you killed an innocent kid to avenge her death? How do you think she'd feel to have a child's blood on her hands?"

Perez seemed to shrink back as the weight of the questions sunk in. His eyes darted around the room and Morton could see he was beginning to panic. As the agent continued his barrage of questions aimed at breaking the man's resolve he was unaware of the exact moment when he slipped past that point.

_You can save him if you want._

The look on her face was one of reproach and he cringed back from it. Marta had never looked at him like that before.

_You can save him if you want._

She whispered the words that he had thrown so callously at Lawrence.

_You can save him if you want._

He reached out a hand to her but she seemed to retreat from him. He couldn't bear the thought that she was angry with him.

Morton stopped his tirade and looked down at the man who had crumpled against the table. Just as he was ready to declare the interrogation a lost cause he was surprised to hear the words coming out of Perez's mouth. At first it was just a whisper but the words kept tumbling out and they grew louder.

"I'll save him …don't leave me … I'll save him … please … don't leave me …"

* * *

Katie paced impatiently across the small lab, as if her steps could somehow hurry the process. The scientist seated behind her tried to ignore the continuous sound but finally it got the better of him.

"Do you think you could go and do that somewhere else?"

Katie paused mid-step and looked up. "Sorry, I'm just … well I …"

"Listen this is my home so I'm more than anxious to get answers too. But_ please, _can you go and do that somewhere else and let me work? I'll let you know the minute I have something."

She nodded silently and headed for the door. As she walked out into the corridor she pulled out her PAL and put in a call to the _seaQuest. _Maybe they had some more news.

* * *

Bridger tried to sit back in his seat but was finding it increasingly difficult to stay put. He knew the man on the other side of the plexiglas couldn't see or hear him but it didn't stop him from standing up and calling out. Each time he heard a response that was intended to stall them he wanted to slam a fist against the glass.

Redeck, or whatever his name was, sat calmly in the chair and stared at his interrogators. So far they hadn't gotten anything useful and he seemed intent on going around in circles by giving them a litany of complaints against the so-called "environmental marauders".

"How would you feel to see your home strip-mined? Or your backyard ravaged by loggers?"

The Security Chief turned and walked across the room towards the plexiglas window. As he paused in front of it Redeck called out to him.

"So who's in there? Somebody scaaary? Somebody higher up the food chain than you are Mr Braun?" He sneered at the guard beside him. "Should I be shaaaking?"

Bridger stood at the glass and glared at Redeck. "If they'd let me in there you'd be doing more than shaking!" he growled.

Redeck seemed encouraged by his own bravado and continued on with his sarcastic rant. Finally Braun turned back towards him.

"You wanna know who's in there? The man whose design you hijacked and used to kill innocent people. Maybe I _should _let him in here because right now I'd say he's ready to rip your arms off!"

Redeck paused and glanced over at the glass. "Nathan Bridger is in there? How deliciously ironic. The man who brought such pain to the oceans will be here to witness his ultimate failure. You know you think you are sooo clever having built so many underwater facilities but you fail to take into account whose realm you are in. One day Gaia will just shrug her shoulders and you will all be gone."

Bridger pulled his PAL out of his pocket and called through to the _seaQuest._

"O'Neill, look into any group that specifically mentions Gaia in their manifest. This is more than just an environmental protection group."

"Yes, Sir."

* * *

Kristin leaned back against the seat and closed her eyes. It seemed like days since she had had any rest. She could hear the engines powering down as they approached the _seaQuest _and the radio chatter between Ben and the bridge was just a buzz in the background of her thoughts. She forced her eyes open and looked down at her young patient. His hand was limp in hers and it had been hours since he had stirred at all. His body seemed to be shutting down and she knew it was just a matter of time before his organs began to fail. She couldn't shake the thought that she had just brought him home to die.

As the shuttle came to a stop she stood up and waited for Ben to open the docking hatch. Time seemed to slow as she watched a med team enter the shuttle. She heard herself issue instructions but she felt detached from the words as she felt as though she were moving in reverse. They had left with hopes of getting Lucas to the antidote he needed and yet they had come full circle with nothing to show for it.

Ben squeezed her hand as he passed to help with the gurney and she smiled gratefully at him.

_While ever there is life there is hope._

Something her grandmother used to say. She straightened up and headed out of the shuttle behind the gurney. Yes, there was still hope.

* * *

Having been notified the shuttle was back, Levin made his way quickly to medbay. He dreaded having to give Kristin the news they had made so little progress. Since deciding that DNA was the key to the puzzle he had set his team to working that angle. If the toxin had such a specific target then maybe a specific weapon was required. He was lost in thought as he headed into medbay and nearly collided with Ben as he came around the corner.

"Sorry, Lieutenant, didn't see you."

Before Ben could reply he hurried over to where Kristin was still settling her patient. Under different circumstances he would have smiled at the image of Kristin tucking Lucas into bed like a mother hen. He suddenly stopped short and stared at her. Kristin looked up and frowned at him.

"What is it?"

"Just had an idea. We've been working on Lucas' DNA and not having any luck but what about family DNA?"

Kristin just looked at him, waiting for him to continue the train of thought.

"We know the toxin was DNA-specific to Lucas so maybe we combat it with similar but different DNA. Something that is compatible for him but different enough to fool the toxin."

For the first time in hours Kristin felt a spark of hope. "You may just be onto something! Show me what you've got so far."

Ben waited until the two of them moved over to a console to begin pulling up notes before heading over to sit down beside Lucas. He reached out to pick up Lucas' lifeless hand in his and he squeezed it firmly. "They aren't letting you go down like this. I told Bridger I'd bring you back so now you just have to wait for them to figure this out."

He smiled across at the nurse with more confidence than he felt before looking back down at his friend.

* * *

Bridger had long since given up trying to sit down and he paced the length of the glass with increasing fury. He understood environmental causes and had even once resigned in protest when his orders seriously conflicted with his personal convictions but this was insane. The man in the other room genuinely believed that he was some kind of warrior, charged with a sacred duty to protect his Sovereign, Gaia. The idea of Mother Nature was nothing new but to seriously believe she was a living, breathing entity that had to be defended at all costs?

Bridger shook his head in frustration. When would they learn the true value of environmentalism was about living in harmony with the environment? People were here to stay and no amount of rhetoric was going to change that. So their next step was terrorism?

He spun around as the door behind him opened and Hitchcock walked into the tiny observation room. A man he didn't recognize followed in behind her and he held out a sheaf of papers.

"We've identified the cause of the tube failures, Captain. It's a corrosive that only begins its work when it comes into contact with a specific cleaning chemical. Until then it's totally inert and undetectable. Our guess is that these guys have been visiting underwater facilities and placing it anywhere they could get access and then when the maintenance crews came through and cleaned the tubes they inadvertently began a chemical process that was unstoppable. By then they were long gone and safe."

Bridger looked over the information in front of him, silently shaking his head. "Commander, get this out to UEO headquarters. Now that we know the cause we can stop it from happening again."

"Yes, Sir." She paused briefly before continuing on. "Captain, Lucas' shuttle docked about twenty minutes ago."

"Thank you, Commander. I'm on my way there shortly." He turned back towards the glass and Hitchcock realized she had been dismissed.

* * *

Kristin stared at Levin as the information scrolled out across the screen before her.

"So, does it help?"

She looked back up at the vidscreen to see Admiral Noyce's anxious face.

"Ah, maybe. We need to work through what we have but this should definitely help. Did you say he just handed this over?" She looked back up as Noyce nodded at her.

"It seems he never planned to actually kill Lucas but his plan went astray when Lawrence didn't act as he expected. Perez has been in custody and under interrogation but it wasn't until about half an hour ago that he decided to give us this file. The agent in charge still isn't sure why but hopefully it's enough."

'Well at this stage we're desperate so this might be the key. We'll keep you posted Bill."

Noyce nodded as he signed off and the two doctors went back to poring over the new data.

* * *

Bridger strode into medbay and pulled up short as he saw Ben leaning over Lucas. The younger man was talking softly but animatedly and the captain felt as though he was intruding. He slowly approached the bed but Ben seemed oblivious to him.

" … and that particular game was nothing compared to …" He stopped as he realized somebody was behind him and sat upright.

The captain placed a hand on his shoulder. "How's he doing?"

"Well for all his smarts Lucas has often made incorrect assessments of baseball so I'm just taking the opportunity to correct him." Ben smiled slightly as he spoke.

"I'm assuming that's because he currently can't argue back?" Bridger smiled.

"Yeah," Ben's voice began to waiver. "But I'd give anything to have him sitting here and arguing with me right now. Hell, I'd even let him win!"

"I know." Ben began to stand up but Bridger motioned for him to sit down. "You don't need to leave Ben. I think right now he can use all the support he can get."

The two men looked at each other, each knowing the depth of the other's fear. As Ben settled back on the chair Bridger moved around to the far side of the bed and reached out to take hold of Lucas' hand.

"When exactly did such a scruffy, mouthy kid become so important to so many people?"

Ben smiled at the assessment of his friend. "I dunno, Sir. I guess once I got past wanting to slap him upside the head I began to realise who he is."

The captain laughed at the comment. "Slap him? Hell he's lucky this is a sub because there were some days I would have dropped him overboard!"

"Torpedo tubes?"

"I did think about those but couldn't figure a way to make it look accidental."

The two men continued on discussing their experiences of their early days with Lucas and both were laughing softly when Kristin and Joshua hurried back into the room. She looked back and forth between the two and quickly sized up the laughter as nothing more than a mask of their common fear.

"We have something we want to try. It's really just an educated guess but I think we are running out of time. His vitals are getting weaker and we don't really have anything else to try."

Bridger listened as she spoke before leaning over to touch her arm. "Kristin at this point whatever you have is worth a shot." She smiled weakly and nodded before checking over the monitor readouts again. Levin was already on the other side of the bed hooking up something to the IV.

"So, ahh, what is it?"

Levin looked up at Ben and stepped back from the IV. "Well we hope it's a magic bullet."

"So how long before we know if it worked?"

Kristin shook her head slowly. "Assuming Lucas' organs don't fail first … it's really anybody's guess. You have to understand this isn't an antidote as such. We've used Lawrence's blood sample to try and override the DNA trigger in the toxin. The best we can hope for is that it will be neutralized and Lucas' own immune system will take over."

Bridger stepped up beside her and wrapped an arm around her shoulder.

"You know the one piece of good news to come out of all this? In doing all the tests on Lucas' bloodwork we've managed to rule out him having Byrnes disease."

"What's that?"

Kristin looked up and suddenly realised she had dropped a piece of confidential information that Ben obviously didn't know about. Seeing it was too late to retract and being way past caring about protocols, she responded.

"A debilitating illness that can be passed on genetically."

"Which I'm guessing Lawrence had."

* * *

"Commander you'll be pleased to know we've apprehended Redeck's accomplice. With no way to get out he got desperate. He figured Redeck had already done his work and it was just a matter of time before the rest of the aquatubes failed. It seems he was happy to murder others for his ideals but they got wobbly when it came to his own death."

"Funny that!" Ford glared back at the Security Chief on the screen. "So have the UEO personnel arrived to begin their work?"

"All under control, Commander. Thanks to _seaQuest_ getting here so quickly we'll manage to get to the bottom of this. We've got enough evidence to track this back to the source. Thanks again for all your help."

"Any time."

As Ford closed the vidlink he headed over to Hitchcock. "Good job out there. You picked up the evidence they needed to catch these morons. At least I can tell the captain one piece of good news today."

* * *

"You look like hell."

The captain scrubbed a hand over his face and tried to stifle another yawn. "Thanks."

"So I heard the good news from Ford. Lucas is going to be OK."

"Well he woke up Bill. He's still very weak and Kristin is still worried about him."

Noyce nodded. "Have you told him about Lawrence yet?"

Bridger turned away from the vidscreen. "Not yet. It's only been a few hours since he woke up and he's still pretty groggy. I didn't think I needed to hit him straight up with the news his father is dead."

"Well I have the autopsy report here and you might be surprised to know there is no sign of any toxin in his system."

The captain spun back to the screen. "What?"

Noyce tapped the folder in front of him. "It says here that he died from a brain haemorrhage. It's directly attributable to something called Byrnes disease. He had weakened blood vessels in the brain and it was just a matter of time really. The huge stress of the situation was enough to cause the bleed."

"So Perez spun the whole web of lies hoping to trap Lawrence into killing himself!"

"I guess he really believed Lawrence would choose to save himself."

"So how ironic is it that it was his blood sample which ultimately gave Levin the idea that saved Lucas."

'I guess that's what you need to share with Lucas. That, and his father was trying to get to him when he died."

Bridger nodded slowly. "Thanks, Bill. I'll talk to you soon."

* * *

"Hey, Kiddo, you're looking better."

Lucas tried to smile but he just couldn't summon the energy. Even though he was propped up in the bed he couldn't find the strength to lift his head off the pillow. Just keeping his eyes open was taking its toll. Bridger sat down on the edge of the bed and reached out to brush the hair from Lucas' eyes.

"What happened to me? The last thing I remember is incredible pain. I thought I was going to die!"

Bridger winced at his words before putting on a calm face again. "_So did we!"_

"Well … actually … you were poisoned."

"With what?"

"Remember the letter you got from Perez saying he wanted your father to pay? Well the letter was impregnated with a DNA specific toxin that was designed to activate when you touched it."

Lucas stared at him in confusion. "If Perez wanted to hurt my father he picked a lousy way to go about it. Doesn't he know my father isn't particularly interested in me?"

Kristin tried to keep quiet as Bridger rubbed a hand over his face.

"What? … Captain? … What?" Lucas looked back and forth between the two adults. Something wasn't adding up. "Captain?"

"I'm sorry Lucas, there's no easy way to tell you all this." He sucked in a deep breath before continuing. "Perez sent your father a package claiming to have poisoned him as well and in that package was enough antidote for only one of you. He wanted Lawrence to choose between you or himself."

Lucas stared at him, his mind racing with questions.

"Lucas, you need to know that your father chose to bring the antidote to you."

"But you can make more for him right?" He looked up at Kristin, desperation written across his face. "Right?"

"There _was_ no antidote. Perez lied to us all. But Doctor Levin and Kristin came up with a treatment for you."

"And my father?" The words came out in a hesitant whisper.

"Your father wasn't poisoned by Perez but while he was on the way to you he had a brain haemorrhage. I'm so sorry, Lucas. There was nothing anybody could do for him. The only consolation I have for you is that it was quick. He didn't suffer."

Lucas stared at him without reaction. Kristin reached out a hand to stroke his arm but he never noticed it. Not knowing what else to do the captain leaned over and pulled Lucas into a hug. The teenager still didn't react and seemed like a ragdoll in his arms. As he looked down he could see that Lucas had closed his eyes. After being forced to leave him once, Bridger held onto Lucas with the resolve to never let him go.

* * *

"So what will happen to Perez now?" Lucas' voice wavered slightly, belying his stony face.

Noyce hesitated a moment before answering. "He's been transferred to a secure medical facility where he will receive treatment. If he's ever considered mentally fit he'll stand trial. If not, he'll stay locked up."

"I can't imagine holding onto that sort of pain for so long."

"Well grief does strange things to people sometimes, Lucas."

Bridger watched the teenager sitting across from him. He briefly closed his eyes as he recalled the countless days Lucas was stuck in medbay. He had drifted in and out for days after first waking up. Ongoing weakness from the toxin and shock over his father's death had combined to keep him there and he had missed the funeral.

"Have you come up with anything further on my father's project?"

Noyce looked away before turning back to face Lucas. "I'm sorry, Lucas but I haven't come up with anything that either proves or disproves Perez's claims. All I can tell you is Project 214 was shut down following what was officially deemed an accident.

"Well thankyou, Admiral, for the update," Lucas glanced down at his watch, "but I'm late for my checkup with Doctor Westphalen."

Without waiting to be dismissed he rose from his seat and headed for the door. Noyce frowned as he watched him go.

"Is he all right, Nathan?"

"I don't know. He's healing physically but like you just said, grief does strange things to people. I think he's still coming to grips with losing a father that he both loved and hated. The cloud hanging over 214 has just added to it."

The admiral just nodded as he reflected on the complexity of their relationship.

"I know Lawrence made mistakes and he didn't always know how to show it, but Lucas _has_ to know that his father loved him. His final choices all involved Lucas' welfare over his own and he was trying to reach him when he died."

"I know that Bill, and I'm sure Lucas does too. I think it's just going to take time. Hopefully he will eventually realise that sometimes the past should just be left in the past."

**_A/N Thankyou to everyone who has stuck around to the end. I know it's not popular to write Lawrence as even vaguely human but I think it's more fun to explore realistic relationships with all that entails. After all most families have more than enough dramas. Or maybe that's just mine! Anyhow thankyou to all those who took time to review and comment. I hope you've enjoyed reading it._**


End file.
